Microsoft may not be planning on sharing the AR love with consumers any time soon, but they’re soldiering ahead with their plans for the developer version of their revolutionary new AR headset, Microsoft HoloLens, anyway. Today, they announced that developer applicants will start receiving invitations to pre-order the developer edition of HoloLens- which will then ship out starting March 30.
Early developer response to the device has apparently been staggeringly enthusiastic. “Thousands of developers have experienced HoloLens first hand and have contributed ideas to the ecosystem through programs like “Share Your Idea”. Our developer roadshows were fully booked across all eleven cities within the first 90 minutes of being made available,” Microsoft said.
“The enthusiasm we are seeing is exciting! We have introduced new partners likeVolvo Cars, Autodesk Fusion 360 and have continued to make progress in our partnerships with Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic,Trimble, and NASA. I am happy to report NASA is mission operational with the Mars Onsite project we announced jointly on January 21st of last year, using HoloLens to help explore the surface of Mars. HoloLens is also very proudly in-use by astronauts in space after NASA successfully delivered HoloLens to the International Space Station to aid in its Project Sidekick work.”
Microsoft also shared some details on the HoloLens- it will be an entirely independent and untethered computer, with on board multiple environment understanding sensors. It’s powered by a custom-built Microsoft Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) and an Intel 32-bit architecture. The HPU is apparently custom silicon that will allow HoloLens to understand gestures and gaze while mapping the environment in real time. Other components, such as high end optical technology, and support for Bluetooth, were also detailed.
Now we just hope that Microsoft change their mind about releasing this to customers sooner rather than later…