Sight, Sound & Sensors

Microsoft showed a Windows video app that you can control with simply your voice: Just say "follow me" and the video app moves along as you walk around a room. "We're discovering new uses for holograms every day."

Architectural and medical imaging scenarios were also demonstrated to show the various uses the headset could be employed in everyday work life. The company also showed off some compelling uses for education, namely in the sciences and arts, with full 3D, interactive models of the human anatomy to name just one use case demonstrated.

Other than showing off more cool stuff the HoloLens can do, Microsoft kept mum about an official release date for both the device and the developer platform.

Let's Dive into Augmented Reality

Don't you worry about what you'll do with HoloLens - the developers have got you covered. During its Build 2015 conference, Microsoft has announced Microsoft Holographic, a HoloLens platform for developers, "Focused on you, the dreamers, the creators, the Windows developers."

We knew it was coming, after all it's a developer conference. But hearing more about how HoloLens works and how Microsoft sees us using it has us even more excited for the augmented reality headset.

Alex Kipman, Technical Fellow for new device categories in Microsoft's Operating System Group, went into more detail about the headset, noting that everything shown on stage can be used with the HoloLens, "All universal Windows apps will work with HoloLens," Kipman said.

HoloStudio, The Application Platform for Holograms

Microsoft teased the possibilities in a video: a HoloLens-wearing man played a 3D version of Minecraft. A HoloLens-wearing woman walking through an office, talking to a colleague on an image floating in front of her. Another user walked within a planetary scene. In a more everyday context, the weather report popped up on a family room rug, with 3D imaging augmenting the data. For the real-time demo of Windows Holographic and the HoloLens, a woman built a flying robot using a 3D "toolbox" that floated in her field of vision along with the object itself. She could pick items from the toolbox and apply them to the hologram, and move the hologram as she examined her work.

Finally, Kipman unveiled HoloStudio, an application for making your own holograms. (We're taking bets on who'll be first with their Princess Leia hologram imitation—"Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.")

Windows 10 may still be in preview, but adding holograms, 3D imaging, and augmented reality to the operating system pushes Windows way ahead of Mac OS X and Chrome OS, changing how people use computers in their daily lives. Stay tuned for our hands-on from the event. The HoloLens itself is "the most advanced holographic computer the world has ever known," said Kipman. The headset will be completely wireless, with its own high-end CPU and GPU—and it will have a third chip, a Holographic Processing Unit, or HPU. (New anagram alert!)

"It will understand your gestures and voice," Kipman promised, "and spatially map the entire world around us." And unlike AR solutions we've seen up to now, the HoloLens will not need markers, external cameras, or a tethered phone or a PC to help it process the data—"terabytes of information from all of these sensors, all in real time," he described.

Dreaming About Holograms

Microsoft Windows Holographic and the HoloLens headset will enable 3D gaming. "We're dreaming about holograms," said Alex Kipman of Microsoft, as he unveiled a new set of technologies that will bring 3D imaging and augmented reality to Windows. That's right: holograms—possibly the biggest surprise from Wednesday's the Windows 10 consumer preview unveiling. It's actually three technologies that will work together: Windows Holographic, which will enable 3D imaging in all future builds of Windows 10. Windows HoloLens, a headset for viewing and interacting with 3D images. And finally, the HoloStudio application will let you make your own holograms.

Explore Places You’ve Never Been

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will soon be exploring Mars using holograms of Mars Rover images. They will work as if they can walk on the surface of Mars, an experience previously impossible. As a result, they will be able to learn at a faster pace than ever before. Holograms are the next evolution in computing. With this vision in mind, hardware, software, and user design engineers came together to create a new canvas for creators and developers. Introduces a powerful new holographic platform. The era of holographic computing is here.

Create What You Imagine, Collaborate and Explore

Go somewhere you've never been and get to know it from every angle. See holograms from your colleague’s perspective if he’s in the next room or on the other side of the world. Explore a new dimension that is grounded in, but not limited to, the physical world. See your imagination come to life as a hologram. Effortlessly create your own holograms and share them with others. Use holograms to visualize how something will look in the physical world whether it’s a new piece of furniture in your home, a toy for your kids, or a new creation for work. HoloStudio will even let you turn your holograms into physical objects with 3D print compatibility.

New Ways to Visualize Your Work

Go beyond what a 2D render can do by bringing your vision to life in three dimensions. Anchor holograms to physical objects so you can size and scale them in real time. Save time and make smarter decisions by seeing your work from every angle, in relation to the world around you. And partner with remote colleagues to collaborate on projects together.