HoloLens 2

Last updated
Microsoft HoloLens 2
Microsoft HoloLens logo 2015.png
Developer Microsoft
ManufacturerMicrosoft
Product family Windows 10
Type Mixed reality augmented reality head-mounted display smartglasses
Generation2
Release dateNovember 7, 2019;4 years ago (2019-11-07)
AvailabilityEnterprise and developers
Introductory price$3500 USD, $125 USD per month Enterprise, $99 USD per month Developer
Operating system Windows 10 Holographic
System on a chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Compute Platform
CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 850
DisplaySee-through holographic lenses 2K 3:2, 1440x936 [1]
GraphicsAdreno 630
Input Eye tracking, spatial tracking, hand tracking.
Camera8 MP 1080P30 video
ConnectivityBluetooth LE 5.0, 802.11 2x2 WiFi
Platform Universal Windows Platform
Online servicesWindows Holographic Operating System, Edge, Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Dynamics 365 Layout, Dynamics 365 Guides, 3D Viewer, OneDrive for Business
Mass566g
Predecessor HoloLens
Website www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens/

Microsoft HoloLens 2 is a mixed reality head-mounted display developed and manufactured by Microsoft. It is the successor to the original Microsoft HoloLens. The first variant of the device, The HoloLens 2 enterprise edition, debuted on February 24, 2019. This was followed by a developer edition that was announced on May 2, 2019. The HoloLens 2 was subsequently released in limited numbers on November 7, 2019. The Hololens 2 is now discontinued, but will continue to recieve software updates until December 31st, 2027. [2]

Contents

Description

The HoloLens 2 was announced by lead HoloLens developer Alex Kipman on February 24, 2019 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. [3] [4] On May 7, 2019 the HoloLens 2 was shown again at the Microsoft Build developer conference. There, it showcased an application created with the Unreal Game Engine. [5]

The HoloLens 2 are combination waveguide and laser-based stereoscopic & full-color mixed reality smartglasses developed and manufactured by Microsoft. The US military's Integrated Visual Augmentation System is a further development of Hololens 2. [6]

The HoloLens 2 is an early AR device. The displays on the HoloLens 2 are simple waveguide displays with a fixed focus of approximately two meters. Because of the fixed focus, the displays exhibit the Vergence-Accommodation Conflict, which is an unpleasant visual sensation for the viewer. [7]

On August 20, 2019, at the Hot Chips 31 symposium Microsoft presented their Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) 2.0 custom design for the HoloLens 2 with the following features: [8]

On August 29, 2019, at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Microsoft's Executive Vice President, Harry Shum, revealed that HoloLens 2 would go on sale in September 2019. [9] The product started shipping on November 7, 2019. [10]

Improvements over the previous model

Microsoft highlighted three main improvements made to the device: immersiveness, ergonomics and business friendliness. [11] [12]

HoloLens 2 has a diagonal field of view of 52 degrees, improving over the 34 degree field of view (FOV) of the first edition of HoloLens, although Karl Guttag states that it offers less than 20 pixels per degree of resolution [13] (despite Microsoft's claim that it would keep a resolution of 47 pixels per degree [14] [15] ).

Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) 2.0 improvements compared to the HPU 1.0: [8]

HoloLens 2 emulation

The HoloLens 2 Emulator was made available to developers on April 17, 2019. [16] This emulator allows developers to create applications for the HoloLens 2 before the device ships.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augmented reality</span> View of the real world with computer-generated supplementary features

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated 3D content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be defined as a system that incorporates three basic features: a combination of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects. The overlaid sensory information can be constructive, or destructive. As such, it is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixed reality</span> Merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments

Mixed reality (MR) is a term used to describe the merging of a real-world environment and a computer-generated one. Physical and virtual objects may co-exist in mixed reality environments and interact in real time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Head-mounted display</span> Type of display device

A head-mounted display (HMD) is a display device, worn on the head or as part of a helmet, that has a small display optic in front of one or each eye. HMDs have many uses including gaming, aviation, engineering, and medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Rift</span> Virtual reality headsets by Oculus VR

Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a virtual reality company founded by Palmer Luckey that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality industry. It was the first virtual reality headset to provide a realistic experience at an accessible price, utilizing novel technology to increase quality and reduce cost by orders of magnitude compared to earlier systems. The first headset in the line was the Oculus Rift DK1, released on March 28, 2013. The last was the Oculus Rift S, discontinued in April 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical head-mounted display</span> Type of wearable device

An optical head-mounted display (OHMD) is a wearable device that has the capability of reflecting projected images as well as allowing the user to see through it. In some cases, this may qualify as augmented reality (AR) technology. OHMD technology has existed since 1997 in various forms, but despite a number of attempts from industry, has yet to have had major commercial success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smartglasses</span> Wearable computers glasses

Smartglasses or smart glasses are eye or head-worn wearable computers. Many smartglasses include displays that add information alongside or to what the wearer sees. Alternatively, smartglasses are sometimes defined as glasses that are able to change their optical properties, such as smart sunglasses that are programmed to change tint by electronic means. Alternatively, smartglasses are sometimes defined as glasses that include headphone functionality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magic Leap</span> American augmented reality hardware manufacturer

Magic Leap, Inc. is an American technology company that released a head-mounted augmented reality display, called Magic Leap One, which superimposes 3D computer-generated imagery over real world objects. It is attempting to construct a light-field chip using silicon photonics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meta (augmented reality company)</span> Defunct Silicon Valley company (2012–2019)

Meta was a company that designed augmented reality products. The company was founded by Meron Gribetz in 2012, based on the "Extramissive spatial imaging digital eye glass" technology invented by Gribetz and Mann originally filed with the US Patent and Trademark office Jan 3, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Mixed Reality</span> Mixed reality platform

Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) is a discontinued platform by Microsoft which provides augmented reality and virtual reality experiences with compatible head-mounted displays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft HoloLens</span> Mixed reality smartglasses

Microsoft HoloLens is an augmented reality (AR)/mixed reality (MR) headset developed and manufactured by Microsoft. HoloLens runs the Windows Mixed Reality platform under the Windows 10 operating system. Some of the positional tracking technology used in HoloLens can trace its lineage to the Microsoft Kinect, an accessory for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Xbox One game consoles that was introduced in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual reality headset</span> Head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer


A virtual reality headset is a head-mounted device that uses 3D near-eye displays and positional tracking to provide a virtual reality environment for the user. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games, but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR headsets typically include a stereoscopic display, stereo sound, and sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes for tracking the pose of the user's head to match the orientation of the virtual camera with the user's eye positions in the real world.

A vision processing unit (VPU) is an emerging class of microprocessor; it is a specific type of AI accelerator, designed to accelerate machine vision tasks.

OpenXR is an open-source, royalty-free standard for access to virtual reality and augmented reality platforms and devices. It is developed by a working group managed by the Khronos Group consortium. OpenXR was announced by the Khronos Group on February 27, 2017, during GDC 2017. A provisional version of the standard was released on March 18, 2019, to enable developers and implementers to provide feedback on it. On July 29, 2019, OpenXR 1.0 was released to the public by Khronos Group at SIGGRAPH 2019 and on April 15, 2024, OpenXR 1.1 was released by Khronos.

The Azure Kinect DK is a discontinued developer kit and PC peripheral which employs the use of artificial intelligence sensors for computer vision and speech models, and is connected to the Microsoft Azure cloud. It is the successor to the Microsoft Kinect line of sensors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Kipman</span> Brazilian engineer (born 1979)

Alex Kipman is a Brazilian engineer and inventor who is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Analog AI. Previously, he was the lead developer of the Microsoft HoloLens smartglasses and helped develop the Xbox Kinect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integrated Visual Augmentation System</span> US Army augmented reality headset

The Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) is an augmented reality headset being developed by Microsoft for the United States Army. It is intended to improve situational awareness by overlaying sensor imagery and other information on the soldier's field of view. Originally developed for infantry, it is also being adapted for use by mounted soldiers and aircrew.

Microsoft Holoportation is a project from Microsoft Research that demonstrates real-time holographic communications with the Microsoft Hololens. Holoportation is described as "a new type of 3D capture technology that allows high-quality 3D models of people to be reconstructed, compressed and transmitted anywhere in the world in real time. This allows users wearing virtual or augmented reality displays to see, hear and interact with remote participants in 3D, almost as if they were present in the same physical space. From an audio-visual perspective, communicating and interacting with remote users edges closer to face-to-face communication." The project was launched by Shahram Izadi and his Microsoft team in 2016. In March 2016, Alex Kipman performed a live demonstration of the technology at the TED conference as part of his talk. In 2020, Microsoft Mesh was launched which offered Holoportation capabilities to "project yourself as your most lifelike, photorealistic self in mixed reality to interact as if you are there in person"

The Meta Quest Pro is a mixed reality (MR) headset developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixed Reality Toolkit</span>

Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) is an open-source software development kit (SDK) developed by Microsoft in 2016 for the development of mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR) software applications. It consists of a collection of components and features designed to enhance the mixed reality user and developer experiences. The toolkit was originally developed by Microsoft for the release of the HoloLens 1 augmented reality headset, although it supports a variety of platforms.

References

  1. "Rendering - Mixed Reality". docs.microsoft.com. Microsoft. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  2. Strategy, Moor Insights and. "Hololens 2: Microsoft's Enterprise AR Power Play For Windows Mixed Reality". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  3. "Microsoft Hololens 2 ushers in the next generation of augmented reality". mashable.com. February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  4. "Microsoft's new $3,500 HoloLens 2 headset means business". cnn.com. February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  5. Apollo 11 HoloLens 2 Demo | Microsoft Build 2019 | Unreal Engine , retrieved 2019-08-07
  6. Kress, Bernard C.; Cummings, William J. (May 2017). "11-1: Invited Paper : Towards the Ultimate Mixed Reality Experience: HoloLens Display Architecture Choices". SID Symposium Digest of Technical Papers. 48 (1): 127–131. doi:10.1002/sdtp.11586.
  7. "Comfort - Mixed Reality". learn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  8. 1 2 Cutress, Dr Ian. "Hot Chips 31 Live Blogs: Microsoft Hololens 2.0 Silicon". www.anandtech.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  9. "Microsoft says new augmented reality headset to go on sale in..." Reuters. 2019-08-29. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  10. Robertson, Adi (2019-11-07). "The Microsoft HoloLens 2 ships today for $3,500". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  11. "HoloLens 2 pricing and preorder". microsoft.com . Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  12. "New HoloLens 2 gives Microsoft the edge in the next generation of computing". Innovation Stories at Microsoft. Microsoft. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  13. "Hololens 2 Display Evaluation (Part 2: Comparison to Hololens 1)". KGOnTech. KGOnTech. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  14. Kipman, Alex (2019-02-25). "No secrets... - The first HoloLens had a 34-degree diagonal FOV; the new headset's field of view … 52-degree diagonal field of view. More than 2x is area and most of the growth is vertical (no longer 16:9)". @akipman. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  15. Goode, Lauren (2019-02-24). "The HoloLens 2 Puts a Full-Fledged Computer on Your Face". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  16. Schaik, Joost Van (2019-04-17). "First look at the HoloLens 2 emulator". Dotnet by Example. Retrieved 2019-08-07.