Last week Microsoft held an event on the upcoming Windows 10 ‘Creators Update’ which is scheduled to arrive in Spring 2017. Part of the show was dedicated to the company’s mixed reality (MR) device HoloLens before going on to reveal some virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) as part of Windows Holographic. Apart from a short presentation few details on the HMDs were announced, but more info isn’t far away as Microsoft will be talking about them in December.
Polygon interviewed Alex Kipman, who heads the HoloLens team, during which he said more details would be unveiled at an event in December. On the 8th – 9th December in Shenzhen, China and 14th – 15th December in Taipei City, Taiwan, will be the WinHEC workshops and events which should be when those details are unveiled, reports The Verge.
What Microsoft has revealed so far includes partners HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus and Acer will be involved in manufacturing the VR HMDs, prices will start from $299 USD – significantly lower than rival PC-based headsets, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive – and the design with also feature six-degrees of freedom sensors.
The headsets will be using tech from HoloLens to provide inside-out tracking using a series of cameras and sensors – currently rivals use external equipment to track HMDs – as Kipman states: “Nobody in the world has this. This is HoloLens technology.” The first wave of headsets will be opaque so users won’t be able to see through, but it sounds like the multiple variations could eventually see this become clear, meaning the first consumer level MR headset from Microsoft might not be far away. These current devices are still cabled, rather than completely mobile.
At Oculus Connect 3 this month, Oculus did showcase its own developments in inside-out tracking with its prototype ‘Santa Cruz’ headset. VRFocus got sometime with the device so checkout the preview to see what it’s all about.
Has VRFocus learns more about Microsoft’s VR plans we’ll let you know.