Patrick Moorhead Contributor
I write about disruptive companies, technologies and usage models.
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Tech 1/28/2015 @ 5:45PM 2,146 views
Microsoft HoloLens Gets Face Wearables Right
I attended Microsoft’s big event last week in Redmond where they made a number of product announcements, one of them called HoloLens. HoloLens is Microsoft’s own head-mounted device that is worn like a large set of goggles. Their solution is designed to be unique in many ways and Microsoft is doing everything they can to distance themselves from the idea of “always-on” Augmented Reality (Google Glass) or Virtual Reality (Oculus VR). Google’s Glass headset has been a flop so far and it is quite clear that Microsoft doesn’t want to be remotely associated with it. Microsoft calls their own solution “HoloLens” and they stressed projecting the digital world onto the real world using holograms. Microsoft’s approach to HoloLens is spot on as it is more of a vertical approach and supports many of the wearable success elements I have been advocating for a while.
HoloLens has a virtually unlimited set of applications, some of which I believe actually start in business and prosumer use cases and eventually trickle down to the consumer. This is Microsoft’s approach to making HoloLens successful and will enable high quality and serious applications to give the HoloLens real world applications and developers time to create apps. Not to mention, Microsoft doesn’t need to worry about price if they target business and prosumer customers first, as price is much less of a factor for businesses than it is for general consumers.
