Microsoft HoloLens [Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Holograms]

[Silent_Buddha]

Gizmodo on HoloLens hand-on

http://gizmodo.com/project-hololens-hands-on-incredible-amazing-prototy-1680934585

This bit particularly impressed me.

And it was really freaking cool to play Minecraft—or rather the Minecraft clone that Microsoft's calling "Holobuilder"—with real-world objects. Imagine if your walls and surfaces were made of Minecraft bricks. What would happen if you punched through? I knocked a hole in a table that let me see THROUGH the table, down into a cavernous underground with a giant lava pit at the bottom. I shot through a real-life wall and found a cave on the other side. Because Microsoft's glasses made that section of the wall invisible, duping my vision to let me see the cavern instead, it felt surprisingly real.

It's interesting how not only can it composite images onto real life scenery. It can also "remove" from view anything in the real world and replace it with whatever it ways. And the illusion is so good that the press that have tried it, do not see the real world objects.

I just wish the FOV was wider. The bit you quoted highlighted how the FOV is relatively narrow compared to something like the Oculus Rift. But this is still a work in progress, so perhaps that will change with developer feedback. Nadella has said that even though they have a plan for HoloLens, they will take it in whatever direction the developer's want it to go. Even if it means changing their plans for the HoloLens.

Also, this bit...

The prototype headset's a little front-heavy, has a tunnel-vision-narrow field of view, and exposed circuitry everywhere. (Which I was happy about: I spotted at least four cameras, a laser, and what looked like ultrasonic range finders, in case that helps you speculate how it works.)

Regards,
SB

 

[orangpelupa]

woke up in the morning with this HoloLens news everywhere. Now i have spend hours reading, looking at picture, and still cant stop. Yikes! Its like when Rift was announced all over again. I.CANT.STOP.

btw im still curious how they able to give appropriate focus for the virtual object in various distance and objects position. They monitor the eye so there;s something.. but i dont get how they adjust the focus.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

A good write up by Peter Bright of Ars Technica, but particularly on the state of the current hardware:

After locking away all my recording instruments and switching to the almost prehistoric pen and paper, I had a tantalizingly brief experience of Microsoft's HoloLens system, a headset that creates a fusion of virtual images and the real world. While production HoloLens systems will be self-contained and cord-free, the developer units we used had a large compute unit worn on a neck strap and an umbilical cord for power. Production hardware will automatically measure the interpupillary distance and calibrate itself accordingly; the dev kits need this to be measured manually and punched in. The dev kits were also heavy, unwieldy, fragile, and didn't really fit on or around my glasses, making them uncomfortable to boot.

Sounds a way away from consumers.

Source: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/01/hands-on-with-hololens-making-the-virtual-real/

 

[rabidrabbit]

The device is more powerful than a laptop but won't overheat - warm air flows to the sides, where it vents up and out

So it could actually work as a hair dryer, for longer hair!

 

[Deleted member 86764]

It does sound like it COULD be amazing. The part from Gizmondo that worried me was when it said:

"I sat down in a chair so they could sling a giant processor unit around my neck "

Does the current version have much better processing units than the final device?

 

[Cyan]

When I use to peruse through MS patents online (its been a couple of weeks, LOL), I came across a few patents regarding displays and HMDs.

2 projectors beaming images off two diffractive grating lenses, one horizontal and one vertical. Using IR cameras as pupil trackers by inducing and capturing red eye in images. Something or another about how holographic displays allow for wider FOV. A laptop or a tab with a clamshell design but with a HOE (holographic optical element) instead of a normal display.

I expect a Xbox branded version at E3. Maybe sans the HPU to make it cheaper but dependent on a XB1 for functionality.

Talking of which, I published this news months ago, about Microsoft purchasing 80 Augmented reality patents for about 150 million dollars. Now it makes sense.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/456343/microsoft-acquires-string-of-augmented-reality-patents/

Yup, while I'm don't like head mounted gear, I'm very interested to find out the tech involved. Especially the display/light projection mechanism to composite images with reality.

I'd also like to know what more about the 3rd processor. They have a standard or somewhat standard CPU, a GPU, and their silly sounding HPU. As tech this is certainly one of the more interesting things to come about in quite some time.

But yeah. With CPU, GPU, HPU, memory, special display, kinect-ish sensors, eye tracking sensors, etc. There's no way this is coming in under 500 USD. I'm thinking closer to 1000+ USD.

With the progress that Intel has made with Broadwell, I do not doubt that this piece of gear could be more powerful than many laptops with battery life greater than most tablets. Especially since it doesn't have a backlit display. This isn't to say that Broadwell is powering this device, just that there are already powerful CPUs that can operate in the 8-10 hour battery range (and that's with a backlit display) that could outperform most laptops on the market.

Regards,
SB

Well, actually, they say in one of the official videos from the presentation that it is the future of the PC, (?) so it got some processing power.

 

[Cyan]

It does sound like it COULD be amazing. The part from Gizmondo that worried me was when it said:

"I sat down in a chair so they could sling a giant processor unit around my neck "

Does the current version have much better processing units than the final device?

I guess that it is going to evolve, judging from some comments on the article @DSoup has previously shared it still has a good way to go.

This is the only video where I've seen it working in real time, without tricks (some Kinect lessons learnt there, I suppose). The girl building a quadcopter:

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It's interesting how not only can it composite images onto real life scenery. It can also "remove" from view anything in the real world and replace it with whatever it ways. And the illusion is so good that the press that have tried it, do not see the real world objects.

I imagine they're just not looking. AFAICS, the dark visor reduces brightness of the real world. The brighter image is presented on top, and the brain filters this. From the CNet vid, the image is clearly transparent. Like old-school movie effects, the result is probably robust in actual use.

Has anyone mentioned using this thing with spectacles yet?

I just wish the FOV was wider. The bit you quoted highlighted how the FOV is relatively narrow compared to something like the Oculus Rift. But this is still a work in progress, so perhaps that will change with developer feedback. Nadella has said that even though they have a plan for HoloLens, they will take it in whatever direction the developer's want it to go. Even if it means changing their plans for the HoloLens.

It's probably a limitation of their new imaging tech. If my ideas earlier are correct, or even related, the focussing of image is maybe only possible with a small image at the moment. For the fovea. Filling in the surround is likely beyond it.

It does sound like it COULD be amazing. The part from Gizmondo that worried me was when it said:

"I sat down in a chair so they could sling a giant processor unit around my neck "

Does the current version have much better processing units than the final device?

It's going to be at least 3 years out, maybe 5, quite possibly more. All the processing is self contained, which means they are working in mobile territory. If you look at how long it takes early prototypes to get to release, it's always 3+ years.

As for the demo, the HoloStudio isn't really doing anything clever or new. The visualisation in 3D is nice, but the tools themselves aren't anything we haven't seen before. And notably, it's not accurate. Her copter design was unbalanced and would be lousy as a working model (also, did they print the motors and remote control component?? ). For actual professional creations, we're going to need mice/tablets/something with aboslute accuracy. Keyboard shortcuts will also be a 100 times faster. The same app can be made available on PC and work like Z-brush, piecing together components with snap. Add head-tracking and the user would get a reasonable 3D view from parallax too.

I see the main advatages as portability including the virtual touch interface you can take wherever you are. The projection tech allows overlaid data feed. I think that's important for AR. Good display and battery life. The rest, although awesome tech, I don't think will be important. It'll be like the Segway in the end, a great little piece of tech with restricted applications, far more use to professionals than the Everyman.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

It does sound like it COULD be amazing. The part from Gizmondo that worried me was when it said:

"I sat down in a chair so they could sling a giant processor unit around my neck "

Does the current version have much better processing units than the final device?

It's a product that isn't due out until 2016 at the very earliest. At that point we're looking at a new processor architecture from Intel. Broadwell was a node shrink so next one will be Skylake (new) followed by Cannonlake (shrink).

AMD perhaps will have something interesting by then. And so will ARM.

Presumably there will be a node shrink as well for their GPU if it is discrete as well as their HPU. New and/or more mature LP memory technologies, etc.

Microsoft likely have access to everyone's roadmaps (especially if it's something designed for Windows), so will have a good idea of what to expect by the time the product ships.

Regards,
SB

 

[turkey]

The tasks they showed where all very nice and novel, possibly too work centric or simplistic for the expected price tag, they did elude to games and the way they coated the walls made me think,

does anyone think the illumiroom demos where somewhat related. This has the forward facing Kinect, this has image projecting (of sorts) capability. Illumaroom also was more AR than VR and specifically had effects designed to use the real room objects as part of the immersion. Using real projectors would have been far cheaper and easier given the state this technology was probably in, it also makes it far safer to introduce third parties into without giving away any other research details.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It's certainly related as it was all experimentation in the same field. Illumiroom gave rise to 3D scanning of the room and compositing. I don't think Illumiroom was a 'cover' for this though. I think it was a (one of many!) legitimate avenues of exploration at MS, trying out tech and seeing what they can do with it and whether they can open up any new markets. Illumiroom was too niche. Hololens is a much wider application of the same AR principles and camera tech.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Has anyone mentioned using this thing with spectacles yet?

Peter Bright in the quoted post above and he only mentioned spectacles in relation to the prototype not being comfortable.

 

[Scott_Arm]

My guess is early 2018 for consumers, at the earliest. It'll be expensive dev kits until then. The consumer version will still probably be expensive. It'll be an expensive niche product mostly for professionals until the tech has been iterated several times. People who are looking at this for gaming will probably be disappointed unless they have their eyes on 2020.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Even then, VR will be better in most game experiences. eg. The Mars Rover example, you'll be more immersed in Mars with VR than AR. Whatever aspects of this tech that make it more comfortable than VR (presumably the display tech) could be integrated into VR. The 'holo projection' aspect makes it better for lifestyle applications such as the pipe/light-switch repair example.

 

[iroboto]

Peter Bright in the quoted post above and he only mentioned spectacles in relation to the prototype not being comfortable.

FWIW I feel VR and spectacles to be very difficult as well. Impossible if you wear bifocals I'm guessing. Glasses alone was challenging for me.

This has been so far my greatest issue with all headset wearables including google glass. If you didn't have to wear one you wouldn't.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

From EG comments section.

Spoiler

MS have really ripped off a competitor! Sony did the same, but everyone knew they're competitor and they weren't suggesting it was anything new. Everything MS showed was shown, 3D printing, interactive block world, in Meta's vid. I suppose MS is at least showing Meta's dream working, but we've no idea where Meta is because they aren't a big name.

 

[iroboto]

That's alright. I used to think like that but stopped after reading this book about what humans value. For some reason if two people in two separate unknowing of each other develop the same thing we only value the person who released it first. Our association with value and novelty is very strong. So strong that people tend to over look implementation. Apple is a perfect example that is constantly under attack of such things. Since the iPhone they've never been first to anything. And people are always quick to point that out as being a poor point on their product.

 

[London Geezer]

It is also true that being first really holds little value in the grand scheme of things. Sure it's commendable to be first in doing something, but being great is where the money is. Apple was never the first to release a touch-screen only phone, they were the ones who made touch screen phones great.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It's not the similarity between ideas, which are predictable and inevitable as tech progress along some fairly straight-forward trajectories. It's that MS has shown the same content from the Meta concept vid. A year after Meta's ideas were public and Kickstarted, MS have lifted it fairly verbatim. The implementation is key to making a successful product, but any claims MS have to a vision here are unfounded. Their vision is lifted from someone else, quite clearly. Or were they operating without any attention to the competition in this space?

Point being, Sony gave a nod to OR and said it's where things are going, Morpheus is their take on it. MS presented Hololens as something awesome they've invented where clearly they haven't, and everyone's running with it because they were able to make a bigger noise. Credit where credit is due. I hope Meta gets some better coverage and recognition as a result.

Edit: Well, I should probably check the reveal to see exactly how MS did announce it, to be fair.

 

[iroboto]

It's not the similarity between ideas, which are predictable and inevitable as tech progress along some fairly straight-forward trajectories. It's that MS has shown the same content from the Meta concept vid. A year after Meta's ideas were public and Kickstarted, MS have lifted it fairly verbatim. The implementation is key to making a successful product, but any claims MS have to a vision here are unfounded. Their vision is lifted from someone else, quite clearly. Or were they operating without any attention to the competition in this space?

Point being, Sony gave a nod to OR and said it's where things are going, Morpheus is their take on it. MS presented Hololens as something awesome they've invented where clearly they haven't, and everyone's running with it because they were able to make a bigger noise. Credit where credit is due. I hope Meta gets some better coverage and recognition as a result.

Edit: Well, I should probably check the reveal to see exactly how MS did announce it, to be fair.

Well like I said, things can be done in isolation with no knowledge of the other. That meta kickstarter was 2013, they were probably developing it before then.

This device has been under development IIRC 7 years. From Wired:

The headset is still a prototype being developed under the codename Project Baraboo, or sometimes just “B.” Kipman, with shoulder-length hair and severely cropped bangs, is a nervous inventor, shifting from one red Converse All-Star to the other. Nervous, because he’s been working on this pair of holographic goggles for five years. No, even longer. Seven years, if you go back to the idea he first pitched to Microsoft, which became Kinect.

That's a long time.
If the software stack is the same, it may have been coincidence, it may not have been, perhaps they arrived to the same conclusions, perhaps they didn't, it's hard to say.