Microsoft used this year’s Mobile World Congress as the platform to officially announce HoloLens 2. The new device is available for Pre-order now, but Microsoft are officially targetting the device for business, so AR enthusiasts will have to look elsewhere.
HoloLens 2 can be purchased on a subscription, starting at US$125 per user, per month, or outright for US$3,500 so those hopeful of a more affordable version may have to wait for v3.
Immersion
One of the biggest questions for HoloLens 2 was how Microsoft would address the field of view limitations of the gen 1 device that was the biggest complaint by those who used it.
The good news is HoloLens 2 more than doubled the field of view in HoloLens 2, while maintaining the industry-leading holographic density of 47 pixels per degree of sight.
Microsoft have completely refreshed the way you interact with holograms in HoloLens 2. Taking advantage of a new time-of-flight depth sensor, combined with built-in AI and semantic understanding, HoloLens 2 enables direct manipulation of holograms with the same instinctual interactions you’d use with physical objects in the real world.
In addition to the improvements in the display engine and direct manipulation of holograms, HoloLens 2 contains eye-tracking sensors that make interacting with holograms even more natural.
HoloLens 2 now lets you log in with Windows Hello through iris recognition, making it easy for multiple people to quickly and securely share the device.
Comfort
Wearing the device is now more comfortable with a more balanced center of gravity, the use of light carbon-fiber material and a new mechanism for donning the device without readjusting.
There’s improved the thermal management with new vapor chamber technology and accounted for the wide physiological variability in the size and shape of human heads by designing HoloLens 2 to comfortably adjust and fit almost anyone.
The new dial-in fit system makes it comfortable to wear for hours on end, and you can keep your glasses on because HoloLens 2 adapts to you by sliding right over them. When it’s time to step out of mixed reality, flip the visor up and switch tasks in seconds. Together, these enhancements have more than tripled the measured comfort and ergonomics of the device.
HoloLens 2 is launching initially in the United States, Japan, China, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand.
If you run a business, or are a developer with budget, you can preorder HoloLens 2 starting today at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens/buy.
