Microsoft recently announced at a press conference in New York that the company will start shipping HoloLens’ development kits in 2016. The HoloLens which will cost $3,000 per device, will be available from the first quarter of 2016 to developers in the United States and Canada.
Microsoft announced on its official site that the company is looking for creative developers that are willing to help Microsoft build a ‘holographic future’ as well as an active, rich, and dynamic community. “To build a vibrant community, we are looking for a wide spectrum of developers to create diverse experiences. The more you share in your application form, the easier it will be for us to see how you’ll help build the future of holographic computing with us, one inspired idea at a time.”
The company announced these prerequisites developers need in order to qualify as an applicant:
- You are a developer in the United States (including Puerto Rico) or Canada where the Development Edition will first be available.
- You are a Windows Insider. By participating in the Windows Insider program, you agree to provide feedback and work with us to define the future of holographic computing.
- Please note that the Development Edition hardware and experiences are in English only.
All accepted applicants will be able to pre-order the HoloLens’ Development Edition starting from January 2016. The applicants can order up to two devices while Microsoft also announced that as soon as they have new additional devices, the company will start accepting more applicants.
Unlike other devices like Oculus Rift and Samsung’s headset, HoloLens will be able to fully work without having to be connected to a PC or a smartphone. “This is the most important product in the category, and this is the first step in a long journey to reshape the way people do everything,” said for Bloomberg.com J.P. Gownder, an analyst at Forrester. “HoloLens is so important because it will prompt some developers to rethink their position on Windows. People will join the Windows 10 ecosystem just so they can use HoloLens,” Gownder added.
A mixed-reality game product for HoloLens called Project Xray was also introduced at the conference. It seems like the more time goes by, the more companies invest in virtual-reality technology.
Magic Leap, backed by several investors including Google, and other companies like Metaio (acquired by Apple), and Oculus VR (acquired by Facebook) only reassure us that the virtual-reality is getting closer and closer to challenge our real world. To read more about this topic check out this article here.
(Picture Source: techspot.com)