Microsoft introduced the second generation of the helmet augmented reality HoloLens
Microsoft Hololens 2
KIEV. 26 Feb. UNN. Microsoft introduced the helmet augmented reality Hololens 2. Compared to the first version, submitted in 2016, the helmet has got a wider field of display, laser projection display, sensors for the recognition and tracking of real objects, and a more powerful processor. Microsoft focuses on helmet company that will use it as a working tool. Sales of the device will begin in 2019 at a price of $ 3,500. It is reported by UNN with reference to the company blog.
Helmets and goggles augmented reality allows to overlay the image of the virtual objects on the real world. In most of such devices use a translucent panel that reflects the image from the projector into the user’s eyes or laser diodes, projecting it directly onto the retina. Such device has already provided many companies, including Microsoft, Google and Intel, however, a few years of its existence this class of devices has remained experimental and is rarely used by common users. This is a result of several reasons, including economic and technological. First, most of these devices is worth more than a thousand dollars, and in the case of the first-generation HoloLens price reached three thousand dollars. Second, while all serial wearable devices augmented reality is rather limited viewing angle, which around the active region, which can display virtual objects, there is a large blind spot where the user sees only the real world.
In developing the new generation HoloLens Microsoft engineers worked on the second of these disadvantages and have increased the display by about half (it was originally 30×17 degrees, but now the company did not name the exact figures). Screens in the new HoloLens work the laser projector with micro-Electromechanical mirrors. It is rejected with a frequency of 54 Hz, so that the laser forms an image on microwires on the glass before the eyes of the user. The company did not disclose the exact screen resolution, noting that it is 2K, and the ratio is three to two.
In addition to the screen the company’s engineers have improved and the other components of the device. HoloLens 2 running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 850, supplemented by the coprocessor Holographic Processing Unit of the second generation, who is responsible for collecting and preliminary processing of information from helmet sensors. As the main sensor the device uses Azure Kinect, which uses data from a camera and time span of the sensor to create a three-dimensional map of the premises and the recognition of objects in it. This allows, for example, secure virtual objects on the real. In addition, thanks to the use of neural network algorithms, the system for semantically segmenting sensor data, which allows to classify objects in front of the helmet.
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Also in the helmet is used a conventional camera with a resolution of eight megapixels and tracking system owner, which according to data from the sensors in real time creates a model that allows users to interact with virtual objects. Another innovation in HoloLens 2 steel sensors eye movements, allowing you to control applications with look and also to log into them through a system of biometric authentication Windows Hello. Microsoft said it focuses not on ordinary people and companies who will use a helmet for more efficient operation. 2 HoloLens will be available later in 2019 at a price of $ 3,500 when you purchase, or $ 125 if you use the subscription.
Along with HoloLens 2, the company announced a program that allows large customers to develop a version of HoloLens 2, adapted for their needs. As an example, Microsoft showed the Trimble XR10 helmet with integrated helmet augmented reality. Apparently, the similar way the company intends to adapt your helmet augmented reality for the needs of the American army, which at the end of 2018 signed with Microsoft a contract for $ 480 million, involving the delivery of a hundred thousand hats. Another result of working with other companies is the support of the game engine Unreal Engine developed by Epic Games.
It is worth noting that the high price is typical of other helmets and goggles augmented reality. For example, last year my first AR glasses have been released by the company Magic Leap and their price is $ 2295. The developers claim that Magic Leap One installed screens light fields that store data about the depth in the image.
As reported UNN, the company in September, Facebook introduced a virtual reality glasses Oculus Quest.