Microsoft's ‘HoloLens’ to be Available Within the Windows 10 Timeframe Says Nadella

During its January 21 "Next Chapter" consumer event, Microsoft's other great big reveal was the upcoming Windows Holographic, an augmented reality experience that employs a headset, much like the VR goggles that are now already in the market, except that in this case, interactive holograms are added to the surrounding environment too.

The HoloLens headset is described by the company as "the most advanced holographic computer the world has ever seen." It's a self-contained computer, including a CPU, a GPU, and a dedicated holographic processor. The dark visor up front contains a see-through display, there's spatial sound so you can "hear" holograms behind you, and HoloLens also integrates a set of motion and environmental sensors. HoloLens will be made available "in the Windows 10 timeframe" and, according to CEO Satya Nadella, it will be priced "for both enterprise and consumers to use it."

As a prospective Windows 10-powered device, the Hololens should also be able to run any app that a Windows 10 PC, tablet or phone will be able to that has someprogrammed holographic processor user interface. Microsoft has already shown HoloLens to at least one games publisher, with Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick describing the experience as "extraordinary," according to The Verge. Moreover, Microsoft is already working with NASA to use the Hololens to drive the Mars rover Curiosity, said Gizmodo.

As touted by Microsoft, with the ability to interact with three-dimensional holograms in your real world, you'll have a new medium to express your creativity, a more efficient way to teach and learn, and a more effective way to visualize your work and share your ideas with others. There isn't a screen to touch or a mouse to click. Microsoft HoloLens understands your movements, vision, and voice, enabling you to interact with content and information in the most natural way possible.

The HoloLens chief inventor, Alex Kipman, in an interview with Wired explained that next era of computing won't be about that original digital universe. "It's about the analog universe. And the analog universe has a fundamentally different rule set," he said. As gathered by the tech site, "in the very near future, you'll compute in the physical world, using voice and gesture to summon data and layer it atop physical objects. Computer programs will be able to digest so much data that they'll be able to handle far more complex and nuanced situations. Cyberspace will be all around you."