Microsoft's HoloLens Could Change AR As We Know It

Badass Design For Microsoft's Futurist Goggles

Rudimentary forms of augmented reality have existed for over a century, with baseline products like the Videoplace and EyeTap capturing public appeal only briefly, but none have come close to the zeal surrounding Microsoft's newest invention. The HoloLens is a new tech product idea, which was shown at a Washington convention last week and received many positive reviews by visitors after they tried it on. An augmented reality (AR) headset, HoloLens projects 3D objects onto your living room, workspace, man cave, bathtub, and any other conceivable environment. The possibilities are endless. And the best part is, it allows you to interact with the real world, instead of entering a virtual one, where social interaction is put on hold until you remove the goggles. A simple finger movement or hand gesture enables you to move, control, and operate specific images and digital shapes directly in your field of vision, meaning that scene where Tony Stark transports files between computers just got a little less impossible-sounding.

The device is very unlike the Oculus Rift, which as some of you might know, transports your mind to a whole other environment completely separate from reality, like a floating utopian city, the middle of a sheep herd, or in bed with your celebrity of choice. If it weren't for your sense of smell, you'd be tricked into thinking you were really there. Microsoft's new product will instead excel at revolutionizing the way you interact with plain and ordinary furniture and household objects, to create an experience unlike anything else on the market. In one of the demo's, users could use their fingers to chip away at a coffee table and reveal a pit of magma inside. Check that out in the following video:


Although it sounds like entertainment was the main takeaway from the event, I can assure you that will not be the headset's only purpose. I can see the tech developing to a point where doctors could use it during an operation to more safely handle the procedure, I can see it entering military training camps so soldiers can prepare for combat in intense simulations, I can see it speeding up anyone's day job, really (especially engineers, who'd love to see their ideas come to life in a matter of seconds). There may come a time when dozens of applications are found, but to find that out, we will have to be patient. HoloLens plans to be sold to consumers at roughly the same time as Windows 10's release, which likely won't be until Q4 2015.

I approve of the HoloLens, and not only because it could seriously enhance my video gaming experience. I also value the device because the only alternative, as we become increasingly connected with our technology, seems to be 24/7 virtual reality, and that is certainly a depressing thought. With the upcoming release of the HoloLens, and with future revisions by other companies to the idea of AR, we can expect an uplifting/harmless modification to this limited reality in which all of us have been confined to since the beginning of time, as opposed to a divergence from it.

So, that's it for this week. The Microsoft HoloLens shows a lot of promise, and was definitely my most exciting discovery for the past seven days. While this blog post was a bit on the shorter side, I now plan to research the coolest news and compile them all into a mammoth article at the end of each week. I'm sorry that it took me this long to understand what my goal should be, but you can start to expect unmitigated, condensed, and timely posts from here on out. Adios, everyone, and thanks for all the support.