Microsoft HoloLens is the first fully untethered, see-through holographic computer. It enables high-definition holograms to come to life in your world, seamlessly integrating with your physical places, spaces, and things. We call this experience mixed reality. Holograms mixed with your real world will unlock all-new ways to create, communicate, work, and play.
Unlike most VR headsets, Microsoft is using see through lenses to allow you to see the rest of a room or the environment you’re interacting with, in a similar way to Google’s Glass headset. To assist with this, HoloLens uses a combination of spatial sound and sensors in the headset to capture information about the environment you’re in. Spatial sound works by using binaural audio, something we’ve looked at closely before, to make sounds appear like they’re being transmitted behind you or from anywhere in the environment you’re standing in. Just like Google Glass, there’s even a video camera so you can take photos or capture video.
Inside the headset Microsoft is using a variety of sensors. A microphone array captures voice commands, and Microsoft has built a depth sensor into the headset to spatially map the environment and understand hand gestures like the air tap feature to click and navigate. There’s an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer that all combine with head tracking cameras to process and understand how a head is moving. It all adds up to a headset that "weighs significantly less than the average laptop."
HoloLens also includes a CPU and GPU, just like you’d find in a laptop or PC. "But that wasn’t enough to handle all the processing required to understand our world, so we had to go beyond the traditional CPU and GPU," explains Todd Holmdahl, head of Microsoft’s next generation devices team. Microsoft has created its own holographic processing unit (HPU) which acts as a third processor to process where you’re looking, hand gestures, and the spatial map around you in real time. It’s a custom processor designed specifically for HoloLens.
DEMO VIDEO:
While Microsoft is offering some new details about its HoloLens headset hardware, the company still isn’t providing detailed specifications or an explanation of exactly how HoloLens works without any wires or tethering to a phone.
Unlike most VR headsets, Microsoft is using see through lenses to allow you to see the rest of a room or the environment you’re interacting with, in a similar way to Google’s Glass headset. To assist with this, HoloLens uses a combination of spatial sound and sensors in the headset to capture information about the environment you’re in. Spatial sound works by using binaural audio, something we’ve looked at closely before, to make sounds appear like they’re being transmitted behind you or from anywhere in the environment you’re standing in. Just like Google Glass, there’s even a video camera so you can take photos or capture video.
Inside the headset Microsoft is using a variety of sensors. A microphone array captures voice commands, and Microsoft has built a depth sensor into the headset to spatially map the environment and understand hand gestures like the air tap feature to click and navigate. There’s an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer that all combine with head tracking cameras to process and understand how a head is moving. It all adds up to a headset that "weighs significantly less than the average laptop."
HoloLens also includes a CPU and GPU, just like you’d find in a laptop or PC. "But that wasn’t enough to handle all the processing required to understand our world, so we had to go beyond the traditional CPU and GPU," explains Todd Holmdahl, head of Microsoft’s next generation devices team. Microsoft has created its own holographic processing unit (HPU) which acts as a third processor to process where you’re looking, hand gestures, and the spatial map around you in real time. It’s a custom processor designed specifically for HoloLens.
DEMO VIDEO:
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