Microsoft HoloLens 2: It’s all about the software and cloud services
While the hardware improvements with Microsoft’s HoloLens are interesting, the real win for business is the subscription model and hook into Dynamics 365 and Azure. Larry Dignan handicaps the Microsoft HoloLens strategy with Mary Jo Foley.
As was true for my Spatial experience, almost all of what I did in the HoloLens 2 experience could have also been done in virtual reality. But the demo didn’t require me to focus on, for example, troubleshooting an actual machine part — something that would require me to interoperate with physical objects. Even without such a task at hand, it is simply less disorienting and more confidence-inspiring to experience digital objects when you can can see them in the context of the real world. And while the HoloLens 2 is still a conspicuous presence on one’s head, the new model has a flip-up goggles component in the vein of a welder’s mask. A small and relatively low-tech touch, it allows for true eye contact when taking a break from mixed reality.
In contrast to Magic Leap, which is scrambling to assemble an ecosystem for consumer apps for its first-generation headset, Microsoft views HoloLens 2 as but a component in its intelligent cloud/intelligent edge strategy. The company demonstrated this at the product’s launch as it showed how the same model could be viewed by both a HoloLens 2 and an iPad. In this instance, the iOS or Android device uses its native rendering capabilities (ARKit or ARCore), but Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure can manage the anchor points and room mapping that Microsoft says has been a challenge for mixed reality developers. The incorporation of low-cost mobile platforms helps the HoloLens 2 story two ways — first, by extending the mixed reality experience and leveraging the investment, but second by showcasing the clear superiority of the HoloLens experience.
Also: Microsoft HoloLens 2: This is big
What’s next for mixed reality? There is still no haptic feedback when objects are touched. As I mentioned in my last column of the HoloLens 2, passing on this option removes the potential encumbrance of gloves and could pose a challenge for the hand recognition that HoloLens uses in order to determine when you touch a hologram. While it is clearly a necessity to continue to blur the lines between the digital and physical, though, there’s no question that the HoloLens 2 enables the conveying of information with a depth and intuitiveness that make modern tablets seem as primitive as stone ones. Thinking back to one of Microsoft’s earlier mantras, the company has gone well beyond delivering information at your fingertips. It has enabled them to manipulate digital objects in a way could transform how we perceive our world.
PREVIOUS AND RELATED COVERAGE:
HoloLens 2 puts the future of computing in Microsoft’s hands
The new capabilities of HoloLens 2 reinforce Microsoft’s leadership position in a pillar of computing’s future. The company’s steadfast focus on enterprise productivity, though, may leave it vulnerable as mixed reality becomes more mainstream.
HoloLens 2 hands-on: This feels like practical magic CNET
No space spiders or Minecraft this time — but it’s much more comfortable.
Augmented reality invades the conference room
Spatial extends the core functionality of video and screen sharing apps to a new frontier.
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