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In the future, we'll have so much more space in our homes.
2015-12-03
No televisions means no entertainment centers. No computers means no large desktop towers, no desks overtaken by iMacs.
This future is closer than you think, thanks to products like Microsoft's HoloLens: a "mixed reality" headset that projects entertainment, as well as standard computer stuff like web browsing, into your field of vision.
No screen. No projector. Just a headset. This is HoloLens:
Matt Weinberger
Looks kinda goofy, right? Yeah, agreed. But this is what it can do!
Yes, that is Netflix floating in space, on as large a screen as you're capable of seeing in your scope of vision. This is the future of entertainment. And it's already here.
Microsoft's HoloLens is already in some homes:
Several Microsoft employees have prototypes at home, and they're doing amazing things.
Microsoft
There's more than just a floating game of "Candy Crush" in this image. Do you see the rest of the platform floating nearby?
That's Microsoft Edge, a web browser, and the Windows 10 game store. This is a full computer suspended in reality, using HoloLens.Microsoft
In another use case, HoloLens projects a virtual keyboard that doubles as a dictation service for search.
Microsoft
Rather than typing it out, the user says "Microsoft HoloLens."
Microsoft
The results are displayed in real life: a variety of YouTube videos featuring the device.
Microsoft
Since HoloLens has cameras that can read your movements, the user simply looks at what he wants, reaches out and selects the video:
The gesture used in the video is called an "Air Tap," and it looks like a mouse click kind of, but without a mouse.Microsoft
And then this video is playing, but only for the person wearing the headset. Pretty intense!
Microsoft
Better yet, the video can travel with the user.
The guy wearing the headset simply says "Follow me" and the screen follows him from room to room.Microsoft
When he's arrived where he wants to go, he says "Lock position" to hold the virtual screen in place.
Microsoft
By saying, "Make bigger," the virtual screen doubles in size. Big screen TV for free!
No more buying larger, higher resolution TVs every five to ten years.Microsoft
But perhaps that wasn't big enough? Here's a gigantic television, still within HoloLens:
Microsoft's statement on the sudden flood of HoloLens demonstration videos is sadly unexciting.
Microsoft
Here's what a company spokesperson told us:
"Over the past few days, Microsoft HoloLens engineers started posting some of their HoloLens experiences online as a part of our engagement with the developer community. The team is posting pictures and videos that were captured using HoloLens, showing the holograms they are seeing in their world through the device. This is called mixed reality capture (MRC), and is only possible today through HoloLens. While this activity wasn't intended to launch or announce any specific features, we are showing just some of what could be possible in the world of holographic development. Developers can visit www.hololens.com/developmentedition today to apply for the Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition."
Interested developers can apply at the link above to get their hands on a HoloLens development kit — for $3,000 — at some point in early 2016.
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Ben was a senior correspondent based in New York City. He specialized in coverage of video games, consumer technology, food, and culture.He has a BA in magazine journalism from Temple University. He wrote for the Philly Weekly and served as a senior reporter at Joystiq before joining Engadget as a senior editor in 2012.Ben joined Tech Insider as a member of the founding staff in April 2015 and transitioned to Insider in July 2016. He doesn't like writing in the third person.
