“The first moment I put a Hololens on my head and fired it up, the first thought that came to my mind was, ‘science fiction is now reality,’” Matt Witkamp, Director of Emerging Technology for Citizen Inc, said in a recent podcast interview with Financial Sense.
What Is the Hololens?
In contrast to virtual reality, which completely covers the user's eyes, the Hololens has a see-through display where holographic, 2-dimension information is inserted into your field of vision.
Since the Hololens also maps your surroundings in real-time, holographic representations are able to interact with the world.
Sounds as well, which come from speakers just above the ears, are projected based on distance and location of any holograms in your view.
“It was like these virtual beings or objects are actually a part of physical reality,” Witkamp noted.
The thing that was most impressive to him was how real the experience was, and how natural interacting with these holographic images became. The Hololens creates what Witkamp termed “mixed reality,” where head and motion tracking are combined with the overlay of augmented reality, allowing holograms to appear to stay fixed in the environment.
A Computer on Your Head
The Hololens headset is an independent computing device, meaning that it is untethered from a computer and has no wires, Witkamp added. The display uses a tinted screen in front of a user’s face and contains three processing units: a central processing unit (CPU), a graphical processing unit (GPU), and something completely new—a holographic processing unit (HPU).
“It’s quite the experience when you put it on,” Witkamp said, adding that when you place a holographic object or display in the real world, it stays put, even if you leave the room and come back. “Because the Hololens is spatially aware, it knows the world around you, and it knows where things are; it compensates the projection of those virtual objects in a way that it looks like it’s integrated into the world around you.”
Because you are literally wearing a computer on your head that displays anything you want holographically, there really is no need for computers, laptops, or monitors—not even large HD television sets.
A person wearing a Hololens can pull up as many displays or windows as they want, wherever they want, and in whatever size desired. Want to have 12 screens on your wall? No problem. Want to watch Netflix from an 80-inch screen on your ceiling while lying on your bed? You got it.
There's almost no limit to what you can do in the new world of holographic computing.
X-Ray Vision
The technology has reached the point where we can create some really compelling experiences, Witkamp said.
Citizen Inc. partnered with Microsoft and Stanford Medical to create a proof-of-concept that allows a radiologist and a surgeon to take MRI data captured before surgery, put that information into a Hololens, and actually project that data onto the body of the patient in preparation for surgery.
“It’s almost like giving the surgeon X-ray vision,” Witkamp said.
Many other exciting potential applications exist. NASA is using the Hololens in its Jet Propulsion Laboratory to allow users to walk around and explore Mars using the feed from Curiosity Mars Rover.
The potential for innovation in the fields of gaming, design, entertainment and many others is staggering.
For example, Witkamp discussed an application that allows users to take a virtual tour of Rome, and even overlay images of what the city would have looked like in the ancient past over modern-day buildings. Augmented reality and the Hololens represent the potential for more immersive educational experiences like this. Teachers no longer have to just tell students about history, but can actually take them there and walk around Rome or ancient Egypt to interact with people from those times.
Microsoft’s Innovations and Challenges
One industry likely to be heavily impacted is retail, Witkamp added. Imagine being able to view products in your own home. If you were shopping for a couch, for example, using the Hololens, you’d be able to place a holographic representation of it in your own house to see how it fit.
Lowe's is another retailer experimenting with the technology. The company is testing an experience in some locations where users can put on a Hololens and be able to design the kitchen countertops, cabinets and everything else in-store.
There are challenges, however, including the possibility that the product fails to catch on with the public, such as happened with Google Glass.
That device failed because of unclear marketing, concerns over privacy and a lack of compelling experiences, Witkamp noted.
The Hololens is a technological breakthrough in the field of augmented reality and truly represents a new “modality of computing,” said Witkamp. “We believe it’s here to stay.”
Listen to this full interview with Matt Witkamp, Director of Design Strategy at Citizen, Inc., by logging in and clicking here. Not a subscriber? Click here
All images courtesy of Microsoft
