Microsoft HoloLens

[Jorge-Vieira]

Rocket carrying HoloLenses blows up on the way to Space Station

The HoloLens is some pretty impressive and exciting tech. While Microsoft first showed off its augmented reality headset publicly back in January, what we didn’t know is that NASA already had access to the devices and has been actively using the headsets as a communication tool for remote teams on earth and in space.
The folks currently working on the International Space Station were due to get a new batch of Hololens headsets over the weekend but unfortunately, the space shuttle carrying them blew up after lift-off. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and the astronauts aboard the space station are sufficiently supplied for the next few months while another rocket is prepared.





The HoloLens headsets are involved in something called project Sidekick, which allows the ground team on earth to see space through the eyes of the astronauts via Skype and then offer help by projecting important information on to the display using the HoloLens augmented reality features.
So aside from being the next step in Minecraft gameplay, it turns out that the HoloLens is also pretty important to space exploration.

Noticia:
http://www.kitguru.net/channel/scien...space-station/

[Dape_1904]

Isto foi alguém que odeia tanto a MS que explodiu com aquilo só para não haver Hololens no espaço lol.

[Jorge-Vieira]

Microsoft Seeking Research Proposals For Projects Using HoloLens

We've seen HoloLens used in an office environment at BUILD and as part of the Halo and Minecraft experiences at E3, but Microsoft wants to see if its augmented reality headset can also be used to help research efforts in an academic setting.
The so-called Academic Research Request for Proposals will award five universities or institutions with $100,000 each, as well as two HoloLens kits. Although the goal is to see how the device will help research of all types, the company is looking at how it will impact studies in a few specific areas.

• Data visualization
  Example: Using mixed reality to make large data sets easier to navigate and understand

• Evolution of pedagogy in STEM, medical, and design education
  Example: Using existing 3D assets or new 3D assets for high-value training (e.g., interactive 3D models for medical training)

• Future of communication and distributed collaboration
  Examples: Remote training and support, first-responder emergency management, and virtual conferences

• Interactive art and experimental media
  Examples: Narrative storytelling, new forms of artistic expression, interactive journalism

• Psychology-related topics
  Examples: Human perception and human-computer interaction

• Solving difficult problems and contributing new insights that are specific to the applicant's field

In order to be considered for one of the five prizes, applicants (restricted to U.S. residents only) must submit a one- to three-page proposal paper by 11:30pm PDT on September 5, 2015. Information includes an abstract of the proposal as well as a detailed description, the approach to research, use of funds and an overall schedule of the entire project.
After submission, the application will be considered using a few criteria such as its overall impact in terms of scholarly papers and presentations, how feasible is the project for completion, and the overall qualifications of the main investigator.

Microsoft noted that the $100,000 funding will end after one year, as it is only meant to kickstart projects. Researchers should also look into finding multiple avenues of funding during and after Microsoft's investment.

The academic research is but one of the many paths that Microsoft will pursue to test the use of HoloLens. Last month, it collaborated with NASA for Project Sidekick, which would use two HoloLens devices in the International Space Station to enhance Skype communication with a NASA operator on Earth, as well as a standalone procedure that involves using its augmented reality software on top of real-world items in order to train astronauts while in the station.
However, the devices never made it to the International Space Station, as the SpaceX shuttle carrying them exploded early in the flight.

We still haven't seen too much of HoloLens since its announcement, but Microsoft's probe into research capabilities is a sign that the company sees HoloLens as useful in areas of business, science, healthcare and even astronomy. It's not just another toy for the future, but a tool to help cure diseases and enable astronauts to communicate far away from home.

Noticia:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/mic...est,29526.html

[Jorge-Vieira]

Microsoft's latest HoloLens video shows the real field of view

HoloLens is one of the most exciting thing to come out of Microsoft in years, and while the company is laying off 7,800 people, it is still forging on with the release of Windows 10 on July 29, and its first wearable: HoloLens.





But, until now, we haven't really seen what type of field of view HoloLens has. In the latest video from Microsoft, where they announce their partnership with Case Western Reserve University, which we've embedded above, we can see that the field of view is quite limited. In fact, you can see a slight border on the hologram itself, which reminds me of the Now card that Google Glass had in the top right hand corner.

Microsoft has said that the limited field of view is there so that HoloLens wearers can continue to do things in real life, without the hologram obstructing their view. I'm sure it will get better as time goes on, with future iterations of HoloLens, but this is definitely going to take some of the steam out of some users' dreams.

image: http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/...field-view.jpg

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/46380/...iew/index.html

[Jorge-Vieira]

Hololens demo shows its potential for teaching

Microsoft’s Hololens hasn’t quite captured the online world’s imagination like the Oculus Rift, but augmented reality has just as much potential as virtual reality in the right hands. With Microsoft’s Hololens, it wants people to see it as much more than just an alternative to Google Glass. In a new demonstration of what it looks like to use, Microsoft highlights its potential as a teaching tool, giving medical students the chance to view human anatomy up close and personal, without having to deal with a cadaver.

Of course real world experience with a human body is often going to trump digital hologram versions, but when it comes to learning the theory of the human body, Hololens has a lot of potential. Giving students the ability to strip away layers from the body to look at various aspects, before reversing it and looking at the surface, is something that just isn’t possible with real world bodies.
Highlighted labels and information that’s available at the touch of a button makes for a much more detailed learning experience than if a person was merely listening to a lecturer describe a picture. Even a 3D model on a 2D display isn’t as useful, since it can only be manipulated through traditional controllers, rather than by gestures which are much more natural for humans.
This isn’t something that could be applied just to medicine though, but all of the sciences. Art history is another example highlighted in the video, letting students view art work in three full dimensions rather than in books or on screens. They can analyse and study some of history’s greatest pieces as they would have been seen when first created.

Noticia:
http://www.kitguru.net/channel/gener...-for-teaching/

[Jorge-Vieira]

The first iteration of HoloLens won’t be targeted at gamers

Microsoft announced the HoloLens back in January but despite it being shown off as the next evolution for Minecraft gameplay at events like E3, company CEO, Satya Nadella, says that the first iteration of the hardware won’t be primarily targeted at gamers but rather, enterprise users instead.
Microsoft’s CEO sees more immediate uses for “developers and enterprise scenarios” in the first purchasable iteration of the augmented reality headset. Satya Nadella expressed his thoughts in an interview with ZDNet: “Gaming will always be a scenario and there will be other entertainment broadly. But, with the V.1 of HoloLens, I want us to push a lot more of the enterprise usage.”

This makes sense as when the HoloLens was initially revealed, the presentation wasn’t purely focussed on gaming, although Minecraft was a brief part of it. The extent of the HoloLens’ gaming capabilities weren’t really explored until E3 but given that this is new technology, developers need to get their hands on it first.
The interview also explores why Microsoft bought Minecraft, with Nadella going on to explain that he wanted a “hit game for the new medium of mixed reality”, Minecraft has been a top seller on PC, consoles and mobile, which made it a great option for the new HoloLens platform.

Noticia:
http://www.kitguru.net/channel/gener...ted-at-gamers/

[Jorge-Vieira]

Microsoft will have HoloLens ready for developers within a year

Now that the launch of Windows 10 is out of the way, Microsoft's next exciting launch is HoloLens. The company has said that HoloLens would arrive "in the Windows 10 time frame", but when is that?

image: http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/...ithin-year.jpg

During an interview with the BBC, company CEO Satya Nadella said that HoloLens should hit the first handful of developers and enterprise users "within the next year", smashing hopes that people would see it this year. Nadella added that the technology inside, and out of HoloLens is a "5-year journey".

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/46818/...ear/index.html

[Jorge-Vieira]

HoloLens up to five years way

Along with rocket packs
Officially Microsoft said that its HoloLens headset would arrive "in the Windows 10 time frame" which as far as we are aware does not have an end date.

But now it appears that Redmond CEO Satya Nadella has been dropping some hints as to when its augmented reality eyewear will show up.
Talking to the BBC, Microsoft's supreme dalek said developers and enterprise users to get the first version of HoloLens "within the next year."
This means the chances of you owning one by Christmas are about as likely as an Apple fanboy admitting that his iPhone has less security than an Android one or that Steve Jobs didn't invent the tablet.
It's not clear when a personal version will launch, but Nadella describes the overall technology as a "5-year journey" that will eventually branch out to other fields.
This could mean 2020 which is quite a good year for announcing visual technology, but it could also mean that Microsoft will have it established by that point. In the same way it established tablets.
Hopefully the software will be better than what we have now.

Noticia:
http://www.fudzilla.com/news/wearabl...five-years-way

[Jorge-Vieira]

Microsoft's Hololens will support online multiplayer via Xbox LIVE

Although VR is largely regarded as the hot new tech for gaming, Microsoft's Hololens has huge potential to make AR a very real combatant against devices like the Oculus Rift. One of the key paths to doing so revolves around seamless multiplayer interaction through AR, and Microsoft has tapped its online juggernaut service Xbox LIVE to power these experiences.

image: http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/...-xbox-live.png

At Gamescom 2015 Microsoft Games Evangelist Jaime Rodriguez revealed that the Xbox LIVE API would be fully functional across every device in the Universal Windows Platform, which includes Windows Phones, Windows 10 PC's, Xbox One consoles and the new Hololens AR headset.

This effectively means that Xbox LIVE online multiplayer could eventually be available on the AR-ready Hololens. Imagine playing Minecraft with friends across the globe via holographic images overlayed across your home, hacking at projected trees and building titanic castles in the sky...I'm getting excited just thinking about it.

Sadly this reverie might not manifest any time soon, as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that the Hololens is a "five-year journey" and that the headset will initially be used to fuel "development and enterprise scenarios" rather than whims of fancy. Plus the holographic AR device is still in its early stages, and the first wave of devkits will be released sometime this year, meaning gamers have some time yet before a final consumer release.

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/46945/...ive/index.html

[Jorge-Vieira]

Xbox boss says no timetable on launch of Microsoft HoloLens

Microsoft is pushing forward with its HoloLens wearable smart glasses, but there is no timetable when it will be launched. Instead, the company wants to make sure developers have a proper chance to create apps and services, while Microsoft listens to feedback.

image: http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/...t-hololens.jpg

"What we know with HoloLens is we need to get it into the hands of developers, that's where you're going to get the best feedback early on," Spencer told Eurogamer. "I don't think we're far away from that - I'm not announcing dates - but we're not far from that. In terms of it being too good to be true - the technology will evolve."

Microsoft wants holograms to become more practical, for consumers and in the workplace, hopefully providing a full immersive experience. Don't expect Microsoft to overhype HoloLens, with the company planning "to be deliberate about what it is," according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

"It's got multiple years of innovation from hardware and platform to make it even better. I'd say the same thing about VR - I was playing it two years ago and it had issues, I play it now and it has less of those issues. We'll go through the same evolution that we go through with phones, that we went through with PCs and consoles - HoloLens will go through the same thresholds."

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/47026/...ens/index.html

[Jorge-Vieira]

Microsoft: HoloLens heads to devevelopers, hits the market when it’s done

Although Microsoft Corp.’s HoloLens looks like a commercial product even today, it will not be launched in the foreseeable future. In fact, Microsoft does not seem to have a roadmap for the device. It will be released when it is done.
“I look at [release plans] two ways – how long since you and I heard about VR,” saod Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Corp. and the head of Microsoft Game Studios, in an interview with Eurogamer. “I am not talking back to the 90s – even if you think about Oculus and the time it’s been incubated, it has been a while.”

Microsoft Corp. is among a few companies in the high-tech industry, which is willing to showcase products well before their commercial releases. Earlier this year Microsoft demonstrated its HoloLens, a wearable personal computer that might be used for various purposes. Even though the device looks very solid, it will not hit the market any time soon, according to the software giant.
The Microsoft HoloLens is a full-blown personal computer with a high-performance central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a custom holographic processing unit that processes terabytes of data from multiple sensors and loads of other hardware. It took about five years to design the device that is now called HoloLens, but at present, it is rather useless since there is no software for it. A good news is that Microsoft plans to provide select developers its HoloLens shortly.
“What we know with HoloLens is we need to get it into the hands of developers, that is where you are going to get the best feedback early on,” said Mr. Spencer. “I don’t think we are far away from that – I am not announcing dates, but we are not far from that.”

While Microsoft’s HoloLens looks like a finished product even today, the company does not seem to have a release schedule for the device and it believes that it needs to evolve before hitting the market.
“In terms of it being too good to be true – the technology will evolve,” said the vice president of Microsoft. “It has got multiple years of innovation from hardware and platform to make it even better. I would say the same thing about VR – I was playing it two years ago and it had issues, I play it now and it has less of those issues. We’ll go through the same evolution that we go through with phones, that we went through with PCs and consoles – HoloLens will go through the same thresholds.”

Microsoft’s HoloLens in many ways resembles Google Glass. Google unveiled the wearable for developers back in 2012 and decided to redesign it completely after it sold thousands of such devices to enthusiasts and software makers. On the one hand, abandoning any device is not a good thing, on the other hand, commercial companies need to develop platforms that are actually competitive. As a result, if something can be improved, it should be improved.

Noticia:
http://www.kitguru.net/laptops/mobil...when-its-done/

[Jorge-Vieira]

Microsoft HoloLens Brings Groovy AR Tech Demos To Volvo Dealerships

image: http://hothardware.com/ContentImages...oLens_demo.jpg
It seems like we can't go a single day without hearing about something relating to virtual reality, and because of that, it's easy to forget about AR, or augmented reality. Both VR and AR cater to different sorts of needs, and with its HoloLens, Microsoft has in the past proven that AR isn't just about fun, it's about productivity.
As we now learn, it can also be about giving customers a unique experience when it comes to purchasing a car. In a new spotlight video, Volvo talks about how it can use HoloLens to better explain features of its autos to potential customers, as well as let them see what their chosen color would look like in real life".





In the above video, different examples are given of what HoloLens can do. When showing a prospective customer one of its models, the car can be broken down in real time so that the mechanics can be better explained. That then ties into live examples of how Volvo's safety features work, such as one that allows the car to autobrake in order to avoid an accident. Volvo has long been renowned for its commitment to driver safety, and HoloLens allows the company to better than ever explain how it makes its autos so safe.
An interesting point is raised in this video, where Microsoft says that Volvo loves technology, but only if it makes people's lives simpler. HoloLens, while technologically complex, aligns with that thinking. All a user has to do is put the headset on, and everything from that point on looks to be incredibly straight-forward.
It's not clear if there's a wide HoloLens rollout here, but given what the technology can do, it wouldn't be surprising to see other car makers latch onto it as well.

Noticia:
http://hothardware.com/news/microsof...3r2WvY10Tr4.99

[Jorge-Vieira]

HoloLens Might Use Different Tech After Microsoft Fires 60 Engineers

Israeli news website Ynet reports that Microsoft Israel has fired 60 engineers working on the HoloLens project, and that Microsoft will continue development on the HoloLens with different technology from the US.

The article was spotted by Neogaf user M.D., who read the article that is written in Hebrew. Roughly translated, the article mentions that Microsoft Israel abruptly decided to stop the project that the Israeli team was working on. The team consists of 60 engineers, 30 of those are permanent employees which are given one month to find a new job within Microsoft. The other 30 engineers involve contracted workers, which are fired immediately.
Hololens to use different tech from US

According Ynet, the group was working on the HoloLens for the past 2 and a half years, based on technology of a company that Microsoft bought in Israel 6 years ago. Microsoft will now be stopping the project, and continue development on the HoloLens through a different technology, produced in the US.
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Microsoft Israel has provided a statement following the report from Ynet and states that they recently made decisions that affect a number of jobs. According Microsoft Israel, they are increasing investments in certain areas, while investments in other areas are reduced. As a result, there is a shift in jobs across the organization. Microsoft’s top priority is about the treatment of affected employees.





Neogaf user M.D. mentions that it’s unknown whether this affects the whole HoloLens project, or just a certain aspect of the project.
Unlike its competitors, Microsoft’s HoloLens currently makes use of Augmented Reality (AR). The device is the first holographic computer running Windows 10. “It is completely untethered–no wires, phones, or connection to a PC needed. Microsoft HoloLens allows consumers to place holograms in a physical environment and provides a new way to see the world”, according the HoloLens website.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/hololens-might-u...#ixzz3sz613TtN

[Jorge-Vieira]

Autodesk uses HoloLens to bring 3D models into mixed reality

We've been seeing and hearing about the potential of Microsoft's HoloLens for the better part of a year. Now Autodesk is showing off what it can do with mixed-reality hardware with its Fusion 360 design and collaboration software. If this YouTube video is any indication, HoloLens could be a useful tool for designers who want to show off their work without actually making prototypes.





In Autodesk's blog post, Fusion 360 business development manager Garin Gardiner says that HoloLens augments collaboration between engineers and industrial designers by placing rendered objects in a room where they can be seen at actual size. These rendered objects can be virtually manipulated by multiple users at once. Users will also be able to edit models directly in their holographic forms, use the walls in a room as an "infinite" virtual canvas, and show off a final design to customers using multiple HoloLens kits.
Designers itching to get their hands on these tools will still have to wait a while. HoloLens development kits won't be available until early next year, and Gardiner says Fusion 360 itself is still in development. Still, it's neat to see what ideas developers are working on for Microsoft's mixed-reality headsets.

Noticia:
http://techreport.com/news/29377/aut...-mixed-reality

[Jorge-Vieira]

Microsoft Allows Community To Share Hololens Ideas

Microsoft is now allowing the Hololens community to share their ideas for Microsoft’s augmented reality device.

According Microsoft, “the community is bursting with spectacular ideas for how holographic computing will transform our world” Microsoft believes the most incredible HoloLens apps will come out of ideas the community imagines together.





People will be able to share their ideas through January 11th, 2016. During this time, Microsoft will guide users through development aspects, identifying which concepts would best leverage.

HoloLens capabilities and be great use cases, and sharing with you how you could build them. Your ideas can grow and evolve based on feedback from the team and from the community.
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Microsoft writes that the three most viable ideas will be put up for vote on Twitter.
Hololens ideas include a ‘Water my plant’ and ‘virtual pet’ app

Users can now share their ideas right here. The community has already submitted several ideas as of today, including a ‘Water my plant’ app, and a virtual pet app. The ideas can be seen here.
Yesterday we reported how Microsoft Israel allegedly fired 60 engineers working on the Hololens project. According Israeli website Ynet, Microsoft will now be getting different technology out of the US.
Unlike its competitors, Microsoft’s HoloLens currently makes use of Augmented Reality (AR). The device is the first holographic computer running Windows 10. “It is completely untethered–no wires, phones, or connection to a PC needed. Microsoft HoloLens allows consumers to place holograms in a physical environment and provides a new way to see the world”, according the HoloLens website.
No official release date for Microsoft’s device has been set, but the Hololens is expected to be released for developers by mid-2016.
“We will have developer versions of it first, and then it will be more commercial-use cases, and then it will evolve,” said Microsoft CEO Nadella. “This is a five-year journey. We are looking forward to getting a v1 out, which is more around developers and enterprises, and you know it’s in the Windows 10 timeframe, which means that it is within the next year.”

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/microsoft-hololens-share-ideas/