Business Technology ⯀  

As the internet of things or IoT continues to permeate into work and life, there is a rapid movement across industries toward adopting new technologies and systems that facilitate its integration. IoT introduced new concepts of doing business, from virtual workplaces, connected apps, to cloud computing technology. In turn, tech advancements facilitated connectivity and data transmission between applications, smart devices, and gadgets through the internet.

Augmented Reality ⯀  

Deep learning has made large inroads in the world of computer vision, and many other recognition tasks, in recent years. Microsoft has just announced that it is bringing the technology to its HoloLens system, integrating a deep neural network into the system's holographic processor.

Many of the most difficult recognition and computer vision problems have seen major gains in recent years. Now, Microsoft hopes to embed this technology into the latest version of their HoloLens augmented reality computer system.

"I work on HoloLens, and in HoloLens, we’re in the business of making untethered mixed reality devices, writes Microsoft's Marc Pollefeys, Director of Science for HoloLens. "We put the battery on your head, in addition to the compute, the sensors, and the display. Any compute we want to run locally for low-latency, which you need for things like hand-tracking, has to run off the same battery that powers everything else. So what do you do?"

"You create custom silicon to do it."

"Mixed reality and artificial intelligence represent the future of computing."

"Mixed reality and artificial intelligence represent the future of computing," Pollefeys writes.

HoloLens contains a custom multiprocessor called the Holographic Processing Unit, or HPU. It is responsible for processing the information coming from all of the on-board sensors, including Microsoft’s custom time-of-flight depth sensor, head-tracking cameras, the inertial measurement unit (IMU), and the infrared camera.

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According to Microsoft, the HPU is part of what makes HoloLens the world’s first–and still only–fully self-contained holographic computer.

Recently, Harry Shum, executive vice president of the company's Artificial Intelligence and Research Group, announced in a keynote speech at the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), that the second version of the HPU, currently under development, will incorporate an AI coprocessor to natively and flexibly implement deep neural networks (DNNs).

The chip supports a wide variety of layer types, that will be fully programmable. Shum demonstrated an early spin of the second version of the HPU running live code implementing hand segmentation at the conference.

The AI coprocessor is designed to work in the next version of HoloLens, running continuously, off the HoloLens battery.

According to Pollefeys, this is the kind of technology that needs to be developed to bring about "mixed reality devices that are themselves intelligent."

SOURCE  Microsoft Research

By  33rd Square	Embed

Augmented Reality ⯀  

Augmented reality technology, abbreviated as AR, is a technological advancement that utilizes a computerized sensor feedback like sound, images, or GPS data to enhance or even transform a person’s view of the real world. Futurists say that this innovation is likely to impact the insurance, sports, banking, health and manufacturing industries in many ways.

Just like many other innovations that preceded it, augmented reality (AR) is an uncertain technology that will either create opportunities or introduce new risks in the commercial insurance industry. For instance, some pessimists argue that the rise of the AR technology would lead to privacy violation, virtual harassment, and policy changes to match the new opportunities presented by the disruptive technology.

On the other hand, some positive people say that this emerging technology is likely to enhance communication between insurance companies and clients alongside opening more coverage opportunities like cyber insurance and personal accident liability. Below is a detailed frame of mind to help you understand the risks and opportunities of this disruptive technology.

What are the possible risks associated with AR Technology?

Chief business experts say that the adoption of AR technology will result in a loss of $20 billion by the year 2020. The experts support this argument on the basis that there will be an increase in accidents like falls and tripping when playing AR games. For instance, some people were reported to fall off 50 feet and 80 feet cliffs while playing Pokemon, an AR related game. In another case, one man was said to hit himself against a tree while playing the AR game.

Besides the increased risk of personal injury, AR technology also poses a significant health and behavioral risk to users. For instance, health experts have associated the use of this disruptive technology to cause adverse health effects like nausea and dizziness. As such, businesses will be forced to look for solutions to mitigate work absenteeism related to the use of AR technology.

Pessimistic futurists argue that AR technology, more especially the AR games are likely to place a user’s information security at risk. This is because the AR game involves capturing photos and videos using gadgets that have a Geolocation that can be tracked. On the other hand, the information you share on AR can leak to third parties who can use it for impersonation or other cyber crimes. Such security risks are likely to cost companies billions of dollars.

AR Opportunities in the Insurance Industry

Regardless of the fact that AR Technology comes along with risks that can lead to the loss of billions, this emerging technology has its good sides in the insurance industry. For instance, some insurance companies may use AR as a tool to assess the risk of insuring a building or any other asset.

Related articles

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Furthermore, the insurance provider can take advantage of the various risks posed by the emerging technology to provide coverage solutions that can cover some of the associated personal and corporate losses.

Another possible opportunity presented by AR Technology is that auto insurance companies can use the disruptive AR technology to uncover the cause and nature of car accidents with a view of reducing auto insurance claims. Similarly, auto insurance companies can use AR to gauge a driver’s driving skills before insuring them.

In addition to the use of AR technology to reveal the cause and nature of car accidents, insurers can use AR technology to present their customers with an opportunity to use the AR technology to get business insurance quotes when shopping around for an insurance deal.

How Can Insurance Companies Get Prepared For The Disruptive Technology?

Evidently, AR is a disruptive technology that can open a way for new opportunities. For instance, any insurance company that aims to gain from this emerging technology should come up with ways to utilize the technology in assessing risks. Insurance firms could also come up with new insurance solutions to cover businesses and individuals from the losses associated with AR technology.

By  Lindsey Patterson	Embed
Author Bio - Lindsey is a freelance writer specializing in business and consumer technology.

Apple's CEO sat down for a revealing interview earlier this month. In the piece, he discusses the company's newest products, his relationship with Donald Trump, and disappointment about the Paris accord, and about Apples new technology plans for the years ahead.

Apple  

Tim Cook, Apple's Chief Executive Officer recently spoke about his company’s plans with self driving cars and more with Bloomberg Television. (See the interview below.)  Apple has not been so open about the company's plans before the interview, although public filings and leaks have abounded over the years. Apple has been sitting on billions of dollars of cash over this time, with many suggesting that internal R&D is an obvious way to channel excess capital.

The interview began (after the obligatory questions about Steve Jobs' legacy) on the subject of Apple's entry into the smart speaker market, the HomePod.  The device, which will take on Amazon's Echo and Google's Home with Apple's characteristic late entry, better and more expensive than the rest strategy, was recently unveiled at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC).

The next subject was Apple's moves into the augmented reality market. "I think it is profound. I am so excited about it, I just want to yell out and scream," stated Cook. "The first step in making it a mainstream kind of experience is to put it in the operating system."

"I think it is profound. I am so excited about it, I just want to yell out and scream."

Don't expect any new VR/AR headsets from Apple in the near future though. According to Cook, "The technology’s not complete yet. But that’s the beauty to a certain degree. This has a runway. And it’s an incredible runway. It’s time to put the seat belt on and go. When people begin to see what’s possible, it’s going to get them very excited—like we are, like we’ve been.".

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It is widely rumored that Apple had been planning to build its own car, as was Google. But is now expected that both companies are instead focusing on the self driving technology behind the wheel, rather than the wheels themselves.  Apple has now hired more than 1,000 engineers to work on Project Titan, as the car team is known internally.

“We’re focusing on autonomous systems,” Cook said. “It’s a core technology that we view as very important.” He likened the effort to “the mother of all AI projects,” saying it’s “probably one of the most difficult AI projects to work on.”

Outwardly Cook is bullish about the market for electric vehicles. Recently Tesla Inc. become the world’s fourth-biggest car maker by market capitalization, due chiefly to the market optimism over the company's electric vehicle technology.

“There is a major disruption looming there,” Cook continued, citing self-driving technology, electric vehicles and ride-hailing. “You’ve got kind of three vectors of change happening generally in the same time frame.”

Apple invested $1 billion last year in Didi Chuxing, the biggest Chinese ride-hailing service.

In the interview, Cook was hesitant to disclose whether Apple will ultimately manufacture its own car. "We’ll see where it takes us," Cook said. "We’re not really saying from a product point of view what we will do." Exclusive insights on technology around the world.

SOURCE  Bloomberg

By  33rd Square	Embed

Virtual Reality  

Newly launched Kickstarter project, VRLD is a solid online 3D world, that hopes to help you live better. Using upcoming virtual reality devices, VRLD aims to expand your game experiences and more.

According to a soon-to-be featured Kickstarter project's creators, the world may finally get to experience a true virtual reality — a seamless online 3D world. The start-up project VRLD has just been launched on the crowd funding platform with the audacious goal of no less than the plans to create "a virtual universe, based on a new philosophy."

VR Link Domain (VRLD) is software, based on a long-term history and fantasies of millions of people all over the globe. It’s a full-fledged virtual world, existing alongside with a custom-built universe. Each person who has a powerful PC can visit and experience the fully realized worldspace.

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The team aims to create an immersive fully photorealistic virtual world. "Modern 3D graphics allow us to create landscapes of unbelievable beauty, which one cannot see in real life. So, why not to use that? The users will be able to travel and to search for unique corners of this new world," they describe on the VRLD blog.

"In our project we researched how people can benefit from the widespread use of IT technologies, automation and statistics," claims VRLD co-founder Alex Kulev.

"In our opinion, it’s high time to launch a global project of a virtual universe, which will turn into a platform for all VR and game industry groundworks as a whole, Any PC user can become a participant of the greatest social experiment of the twenty-first century, but the owners of headsets will obtain a truly amazing experience. You will face unlimited opportunities in creating, setting up events, exploring the most unbelievable worlds. Any intellectual activity becomes easier in an imaginary virtual universe, which operates on its own rules and has a total automation of routine processes. At the same time, you still have access to all files, apps, and social media."

VRLD is being created using the Unreal Engine 4 game development tools, Based on MMO principles and Unreal Engine 4, this metaverse includes universal ownership system, self-tuning economic model, unique security and database system.Users will be able to carry out any everyday stuff, work, play and more. Users will also be able to create any content in VRLD and fill it up with basic, shared, and personal objects. At the same time, a user still has access to all local files, apps, and social media contacts.

The VRLD team of software engineers has defined the purpose to check the necessity of putting this theory into practice via crowdfunding on Kickstarter in order to carry out their experiment. The campaign starts today.

SOURCE  VRLD

By  33rd Square

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Software  

With intuitive design and anatomical accuracy in its software, an Irish firm has built a library and about 18,000 high-resolution images of the body, which were used to create 6,500 interactive body structures in 3D.

Since Leonardo daVinci's first detailed anatomical illustrations, the medical field has been foundationally built on a comprehensive and detailed understanding of what is under our skins. Knowledge of our bodies has been transferred from first hand examinations of cadavers, along with classical textbooks filled with drawings.

Today, an Apple Design Award Winning app, Complete Anatomy Lab from Irish-based 3D4Medical seamlessly blends intuitive design with anatomical accuracy in its software. The company built a library and, over a period of about two years, they made about 18,000 high-resolution images of the body, which were used to create 6,500 interactive body structures in 3D.

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“If you look at traditional photography, a heart, it’s always covered in gore because you can’t get a real heart on its own with traditional photography,” founder and chief executive John Moore says. “But we can do it in 3D, we can get realistic results, we can stylise it without the gore.”

Initially, 3D4Medical had a lot of resistance from universities which were somewhat attached to their old textbooks. The company pitched Essential Anatomy, the forerunner for Complete Anatomy, as an add-on to the books and got students hooked.

The premium app remains popular on the App Store and is in use in universities and hospitals around the world. The company developeded its own engine from the ground up so that it could do things no one else could currently do: interact with models, cut into them and simulate diseased states.

The updated software also has a lecture builder on it that allows lecturers to create their own content and share it with students, who are signed up on a subscription basis. There are 100 pilot projects in US universities already, and Moore is confident they will sign up even more.

"This is disruptive technology. For the very first time, they’re embracing this. They’re getting rid of the text books."

“This is disruptive technology," states Moore. "For the very first time, they’re embracing this. They’re getting rid of the text books. It doesn’t make sense to have text books when you can do it all on this. That’s really running by itself.”

The latest work from the company, called Project Esper, features an augmented reality experience, featuring immersive anatomical learning, by blending 3D anatomical models and technology with mixed reality. See the video below.

The company sees applications for the technology in training and potentially assisted surgery, where a surgeon could carry out a dry run of a procedure on a cadaver that could be replicated by a robot later on.

It could also allow less experienced people to successfully carry out operations with the aid of “virtual” guide, which could benefit developing countries.

“We’re a good bit away from this yet,” Moore says.

SOURCE  Irish Times

By  33rd Square

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Augmented Reality  

Microsoft's Hololens has been in the hands of developers for four months now, and already some impressive demonstrations of the augmented reality headset's potential have been shown off. 

Microsoft's HoloLens is one of the upcoming headset devices that promises an exciting future of augmented and mixed reality. The headset displays 3D "holograms" right before a user's eyes, which you they interact with by reaching out and touching them as if they're actually in front of their own face. HoloLens has been in developers hands for a while now, and the platform is consolidating and expanding this activity.

With more developers and designers getting their hands on the technology, HoloLens demonstrations are starting to show off the technology. Soon, along with HoloLens, Google's Magic Leap and Meta will be showing off near-to-release candidates of their augmented reality headsets.

Microsoft has created an page to show off some of the early HoloLens apps, like Skype for HoloLens; HoloStudio, where users can create their own holograms and even send them to a 3D printer; Actiongram, that combines holograms with storytelling; HoloTour, which lets users tour Rome or Machu Picchu virtually; and games like RoboRaid and Young Conker.

So far the demonstrations for all of the systems  have been impressive, if limited.

What may be the most transformative effect with technologies like Hololens in the future may be the way we use computers in general. Currently most work applications have a user sitting in front of one or two monitors, typing on a keyboard and using a mouse. Headset mounted wearables like Hololens effectively allow a user to put as many displays as they like anywhere in their environment. 

Such displays can be can be any size and adjustable. Moreover, like a smartphone, they can follow you wherever you are.

One thing that the HoloLens videos below do not really demonstrate is the immersive quality of the experience. While some early users like James Mackie say the experience with the headset is incredible for the clarity of the display and tangibility of the holograms, others point out that the field of view is not as wide as they might have expected.

Another part a YouTube video doesn't capture is the audio experience a user has while wearing the device. HoloLens' spatial sound works through two speakers that are positioned just above the user's ears. Games and apps use this to make sounds seem to come from specific locations, even behind the user. It sounds like you’re wearing headphones, but you’re not.

The HoloLens optical system is made of see-through holographic lenses that use an optical projection system to beam holograms into your eyes.

These bright and immersive holograms are projected and bounced around as particles of light (photons) through the waveguides and into your eyes. "I’ve used the HoloLens three times now, and I’m convinced this latest version has sharper text rendering," writes Tom Warren from The Verge, "the combination of hardware and software tweaks have definitely made holograms crisper."

Gaming could be a huge application for the technology, as the demo using Minecraft shows. Competing upcoming VR technology like Oculus Rift fully immerses a user, while HoloLens augments the actual physical environment.

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In one interesting demo, shown below, Alex Kipman, the technical lead on Microsoft's HoloLens project shows an app that maps his office and presents augmented reality as a Matrix-style world. Kipman, a Microsoft veteran, was the brains behind Microsoft's Kinect system, and the HoloLens essentially incorporates the sensor into the head-mounted display instead of being a separate system over your television.

The really curious part of the demo though is the device's integration with Cortana. Using Cortana, Microsoft's digital assistant, Kipman is able to control the recording he makes and control other elements of the experience.

"Software is the only art form in existence that is not bound by the confines of physics," Kipman told Fast Company when asked about his inspirations a few years ago. "You are only ever bound and constrained by lack of imagination."

Mackie predicts that, "In the next 5 years we will not be using mobile phones, as we know. We will instead wear AR glasses / soft cell contacts / similar (holographic) and have a stream of texts, emails (in whatever form), applications and real-time holographic interactions instead of phone calls."

I looks like that experience with technology is about to soon be more widely available in the form of HoloLens and other augmented reality headset technology. Moreover, Magic Leap, Meta and HoloLens are still early generations of the technology, so in the next few years the experience improvements could be substantial.

By 33rd Square

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Gadgets  

Your glasses could be the next big technological battleground. From augmented reality to full-fledged virtual reality, many developments are underway to transform eyewear for the future.

While back in the day eyeglasses were merely worn for the sole purpose of improving one's eyesight that is no longer the case. Today's eyewear, along with giving people a much clearer look at their surroundings, also serves many other functions. Researchers seem to be turning out one advance after another when it comes to glasses, some that sound like something out of a science-fiction story.

"Seeing" Cancer

One of the most exciting and interesting advances in this area involves eyeglasses that let doctors actually see cancer cells during surgery. This technology, developed at the Washington University School of Medicine, makes cancer cells turn blue and gives doctors a greater chance of removing more during surgery. If this technology becomes a standard part of cancer surgery, it's possible that fewer and fewer cancerous cells will be left behind, enabling countless lives to be saved.

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Instant Sunglasses

When the sun is shining brightly on a warm summer day, you know how uncomfortable it is to have it in your eyes. However, with technology currently being developed by researchers in Belgium, almost any pair of glasses will be able to become sunglasses. Utilizing a curved LCD display that can be installed in the glasses, having the sun get in your eyes will no longer be an option. As this technology become available everywhere from All About Eyes stores to suppliers in your local area, the need to have a separate pair of sunglasses will become less and less likely.

No Need for a Smartphone

While in today's world, almost everyone relies on a smartphone to let them surf the internet, keep track of their appointments, and countless other tasks, the day is soon coming where many of the smartphone's tasks can be integrated into a pair of eyeglasses. Checking social networks, making hands-free phone calls, text messaging, and much more will be able to be accomplished with these high-tech glasses.

Virtual Reality

For those who love to play video games, researchers are about to take this option to a whole new level. Rather than needing a separate game system, people will only need to wear their eyeglasses to experience game playing at its finest. With these glasses, players will feel as if they are actually part of the game, making the experience even more realistic.

While some of these technological advances sound almost impossible, the fact is, they are not only being integrated into eyeglasses, but are expected to become commonplace in the years ahead. By doing so, it's clear the future is now.

By Brooke Chaplan

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Author Bio - 33rd Square contributor Brooke Chaplan is recent graduate of New Mexico University where she studied journalism. She loves to hike, bike, run and explore around her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She also enjoys blogging about health, fitness, fashion and many other topics.

Videos  

Explore a speculative digital world without screens in this fanciful demo, a mix of near reality and far-future possibility. Wearing the HoloLens headset, Alex Kipman demos his vision for bringing 3D holograms into the real world, enhancing our perceptions so that we can touch and feel digital content. Featuring Q&A with TED's Helen Walters.

SOURCE  TED

By 33rd Square

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Videos  

Welcome to a new way to start your day. Shot directly through Magic Leap technology on April 8, 2016 without use of special effects or compositing.

SOURCE  Magic Leap

By 33rd Square

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Augmented Reality  

Along with other new and soon-to-be-available devices, the Meta 2, an augmented reality headset makes it possible for users to see, grab and move holograms just like physical objects, CEO Meron Gribetz hopes to extend our senses through a more natural machine interaction. 

Will we still be using external monitors for the majority of our computer applications in a few years? Augmented reality technology holds the potential to bring us more immersive and direct user experience through the use of head-mounted display systems. So far Google Glass didn't immediately catch on, and technical issues held back wide release, and Microsoft's HoloLens is still gearing up development.

"If you're anything like me, your mind is already reeling with the possibilities of what we can do with this kind of technology."

Google's Magic Leap has been teasing us for a while now too, with demonstrations of video game applications in real world environments, and models of the solar system that seemingly float above our desks.

Now, the with a demonstration at TED, the Meta 2, an augmented reality headset makes it possible for users to see, grab and move holograms just like physical objects, Meta's CEO and founder Meron Gribetz hopes to extend our senses through more natural machine interaction.

Gribetz takes the TED stage to demonstrate the reality-shifting Meta 2 for the first time. (The video is embedded below). "Now if you're anything like me, your mind is already reeling with the possibilities of what we can do with this kind of technology," he says. The company was originally funded through a Kickstarter campaign.

Meta 2’s optics technologies include a full 90-degree field of view and 2560 x 1440 high-dpi display. The Meta 2 see-through headset makes everything below your eyebrows completely transparent and unobstructed so you can easily make eye contact with others. You can also wear the headset while wearing glasses

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"What you're seeing is called augmented reality, but to me, it's part of a much more important story -- a story of how we can begin to extend our bodies with digital devices, instead of the other way around," says Gribetz.

According to Gribetz, devices like the Meta 2 may actually lead to new forms of social interaction. "It's not enough to experience things ourselves. We're inherently these social primates. And this leads me to our third guideline, the holographic campfire from our first story."

"Our mirror-neuron subsystem suggests that we can connect with each other and with our work much better if we can see each other's faces and hands in 3D," he says. "If you look at the video behind me, you can see two Meta users playing around with the same hologram, making eye contact, connected around this thing, instead of being distracted by external devices."

Meta recently hired augmented reality pioneer Steve Mann as its chief scientist. “In the very near future, wearable computers will be the dominant technology we all use. meta is the strongest contender to lead this revolution," says Mann.

Gribetz believes the system will change the way we collaborated, and even will replace our phones.

Gribetz' first encounter with augmented reality was during his service in an elite technological unit of the Intelligence Corps. He later studied computer science and neuroscience at Columbia University, which inspired the core of Meta’s Neurointerface 3D User Interface design philosophy. On the heels of Meta's explosive start, Gribetz was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in technology.

As for the size of the technology, the somewhat bulky headset in the demonstration will probably shrink as development continues. "In about five years, these are all going to look like strips of glass on our eyes that project holograms," promises Gribetz.

For now, Gribetz says his company will soon start to use their own device, and take all their monitors off their desks this year.

The Meta 2 Development Kit is now available for pre-order at $949 at metavision.com

SOURCE  TED

By 33rd Square

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 Augmented Reality  

Microsoft's announcement of the HoloLens project could usher in a new era of computing, seamlessly blending the real and virtual worlds. The device could specifically mean big changes for gaming and communications applications.

T

en years before Steve Jobs was able to popularize the tablet, Bill Gates first launched Microsoft’s touchscreen tablet computer. It works exactly like the tablet that people use today with only one difference: design. Steve Jobs’ line of iPad computers looked sleeker and modern compared to Microsoft’s archaic, bulky, and gray tablet. As a result, Microsoft’s tablet failed and Apple is getting all the credit for Bill’s innovation.

Now, Mircrosoft has yet another toy to introduce to the world and hopefully, the company will be able to market it properly this time.

This year, Mircosoft announced its newest gadget called HoloLens – a device that will allow people to do their computing using holographic images. The new technology will use Windows 10, and promises to bring high-definition images and videos to life even without the use of walls or projector screens.

HoloLens will improve the way people do things every day, and perhaps the industries that will benefit most from this is communications and gaming. With HoloLens, people will feel closer to the person they’re taking with. Gaming, on the other hand, will be more immersive and personal. Action games will be more hardcore than ever, horror games will be scarier (imagine holographic images of zombies running after you), and casino games will be more interactive. Right now, online casinos can only go as far as becoming portals to a variety of high-def table and slot games. But with HoloLens, people will be able to interact with croupiers better and feel like they’re sitting at actual casino tables in the comfort of their own home.

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Microsoft’s HoloLens goes beyond today’s Augmented Reality (AR) technology by allowing people to touch 3D holograms that are completely blended into the real world. HoloLens is more than just AR’s heads-up display that simply distorts images on the smartphone or tablet. HoloLens’ transparency means that users will be able to use a virtual computer without losing the real-life environment that’s around them.

So far, Microsoft’s HoloLens seems very promising. It would probably even leave a mark in history before it gets launched for public consumption, since it will be used by scientists who are working on a project for Mars. The scientists will be using the technology in order to virtually walk on the surface of Mars – something that was not possible before the inception of the HoloLens.

By 33rd Square

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 Augmented Reality  

In a real surprise, Microsoft has announced is getting into holograms, and have built working augmented reality hologram hardware, called HoloLens.

Microsoft surprised everyone yesterday during their preview of Windows 10 in Redmond.  Windows HoloLens is an augmented reality wearable computer that is different than Oculus Rift and Google Glass—the system adds holograms to the world users see. The HoloLens headset is described as "the most advanced holographic computer the world has ever seen."

No cords, no phones, no wires, no tethers.  HoloLens is a true wearable, and uses brand new technology built to process the holograms.

Through the device's transparent lens, users can see the physical world and advanced sensors map it so that you can interact with digital media and physical reality in new ways.

The HoloLens also has spatial 3D sound that lets users to hear holograms and built-in spatial sound lets them hear holograms wherever they are in the room with pinpoint precision.

"As holograms, your digital content will be as real as physical objects in the room. For the first time, holograms will become practical tools of daily life," Microsoft claims.

The device is powered by Windows 10, and will be "available in the Windows 10 timeframe."

HoloLens is a fully functional wearable computer, that is very likely to be close to what the much talked about start-up Magic Leap is developing.  The headset is in the form of glasses, but unlike Google Glass, these glasses map the world around you, and make 3D models appear in your vision—even tracking your hands and voice as they interact with those virtual objects. Microsoft calls this mixed reality.

According to Microsoft, HoloLens intelligently maps the room you’re in, blending holograms with the environment around you. With the device, you can pin holograms to physical locations you choose so that your room becomes the canvas for your holographic projects and games. Depending on which users were in a building, for instance, they might each see different digital hologram art on the walls, or interact with them completely differently.

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With HoloLens, users can drag content off the screens of their devices so that they appear to float in space. A floating 3D cursor is used to click the space in front of you, can then be used to control and interact with the digital asset.

HoloLens is the brainchild of Microsoft's Alex Kipman, who also help invent the Kinect. What Kipman has done is to strap the Kinect sensors to your head, so that your environment can be tracked and the data used in a personalized interactive environment. The prototypes users tested has a field of vision that spans 120 by 120 degrees, which is much greater than the original Kinect, and this allows for sensing of users' hands as well.

The sensors flood the on-board computer, GPU and new, first-of-its-kind HPU (holographic processing unit) with terabytes of data every second. "This is everything that we need to step into the holographic landscape," Kipman said at the official unveiling. On the right side of the HoloLens, buttons allow users to adjust the volume and to control the contrast of the hologram. The device's electronics are vented out the sides, keeping the unit from feeling hot on users' heads.

Encompassing other Microsoft technologies, HoloLens is also integrating Skype calls, as was shown in a demonstration where a remote plumber helps a woman fix her sink.

"I don’t want to remove the headset, which has provided a glimpse of a combination of computing tools that make the unimaginable feel real."

In one of the demonstrations of the HoloLens, users can explore Mars with NASA scientist, Jeff Norris. "After exploring Mars, I don’t want to remove the headset, which has provided a glimpse of a combination of computing tools that make the unimaginable feel real," writes Jessi Hempel in Wired. NASA is also enthusiastic. Norris will showcase Project HoloLens this summer for agency scientists to use for collaborating on a mission.

Developers will be getting HoloLens this spring, and when that happens, we should expect some very interesting application ideas and models. As the video at the top of this post shows, developers are very excited about HoloLens (it is promotional content from Microsoft, but it is worth looking at.)

By 33rd Square

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