Reports from Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal indicate Microsoft and Apple employees are leaving to join Meta Platforms, as part of the latter company’s increased push into AR. To counter, Apple are offering some employees lucrative and unusual stock options as bonuses if they stay.
However, The Wall Street Journal reports that the program faced technical difficulties, particularly involving bringing high-quality night vision to the HoloLens. These strains reportedly enticed some members of the team to consider competitor offers. Despite this, Microsoft told the Wall Street Journal that it has a “strong team and is making progress on the project.” In October, the US Army announced it would move further testing of the project into 2022.
To counter Meta’s recent interest in its employees, Apple is reportedly offering some of its engineers lucrative and unusual stock bonuses to entice them to stay. These options, which would be vested over four years, are being offered to only some engineers in “silicon design, hardware, and select software and operations groups.” The bonus amounts range from $50,000 to $180,000, with “as much as $120,000 in shares.”
When it comes to the augmented reality (AR) market there’s currently a very definitive split between consumer and enterprise. Mostly, consumers main access to AR is through their mobile devices with an ever-growing library of games and apps available. On the enterprise side, you’ve got the likes of Microsoft HoloLens 2, providing high-end holographic interfaces designed for workplace collaboration, training and other use cases. But as Microsoft’s Alex Kipman recently confirmed, the plan is to make a consumer HoloLens.
Kipman recently spoke with Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern about its AR (or mixed reality (MR) if you prefer) plans and how he envisions the technology’s future. Whilst this includes shared experiences enabled by Microsoft Mesh, getting the tech into more hands (and onto faces) is an important factor and one which Microsoft is working towards by developing a consumer version of HoloLens.
“We are ‘playing’ to lead mixed reality in the world,” Kipman responded. “But you don’t get to lead a new medium of computing if you’re not going to be in consumer. So, we are absolutely working on a consumer journey for HoloLens, I’m happy to confirm that and say that it’s a very important part of our strategy.”
Just don’t expect a budget-friendly HoloLens in your local tech store anytime soon because Microsoft isn’t going to rush it. “I don’t think the technology today, goggles at $3,500, is a consumer product,” Kipman continues. “It’s an amazing product and a transformative product for the industries we’re in, but it’s not a consumer product. As soon as we can get a proper level of immersion, and immersion is key, you can’t go give some lightweight notifications in Google, put it in a device on someone’s face and assume that’s a consumer product. You need the HoloLens 2 plus, plus-level of immersion in socially acceptable glasses.”
That would mean reducing the size of HoloLens dramatically from its current form factor. Kipman estimates the HoloLens 2’s current 500g+ weight would have to come in under 90g to be a viable consumer product. Considering the amount of hardware built into the device is a sizeable task.
In the short term, that gap is going to be bridged by smart viewers. Qualcomm showcased its XR1 AR Smart Viewer Reference Design earlier in the year and devices like the Nreal Light are now coming to market. They get around some of the technological hurdles by plugging into smartphones which provide all the processing power. Qualcomm envisions this will eventually become wireless to remove the adoption friction a cable creates.
When Microsoft does make a consumer HoloLens expect Pokemon GO – or a version of it – to be on it. During Microsoft’s Ignite event, Niantic CEO and Founder John Hanke demoed a proof-of-concept providing a tantalising look at what’s to come. As further details regarding Microsoft’s consumer AR plans are revealed, VRFocus will let you know.
Is HoloLens 2 proof that AR is the future? Find out in our HoloLens 2 review!
For both better and worse, Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 is ahead of its time. The $3,500 headset is a trailblazer, offering a tantalizing glimpse of a future we otherwise only read about in patent filings. But the technology behind HoloLens is here before it’s truly ready or, at least, ready for consumer adoption. That’s why the thing is so insanely expensive and why Microsoft pivoted it toward the enterprise market rather than going after gamers and tech enthusiasts. In doing so, the company avoided a high-profile failure akin to the Magic Leap One.
It’s through that lens you have to view this device. HoloLens 2 is an incredible piece of hardware that simultaneously suggests the future of AR is both very bright and very far away with huge caveats that are easier to accept as necessary trade-offs in this early stage.
Transparent Design
Microsoft has branded the HoloLens 2 a ‘Mixed Reality’ headset, but that label is a little confusing. This is really just augmented reality – the headset features a pair of transparent lenses that the onboard compute — stored at the back of the device — projects virtual images into. With a limited field of view and the inability to show fully opaque objects, the device doesn’t have any VR features. That said, a lot of the tech behind the platform is comparable to — and hugely improves upon — what makes up the Quest 2 and what you can see in current smartphone AR.
Similar to Apple’s ARkit or Google’s ARCore, for example, the device is able to understand your surroundings and place these objects within the context of your environment. You can attach virtual tables to the real world floor, or clear surfaces to accommodate scale models. HoloLens 2 features a 1-MP Time-of-Flight depth sensor that makes this anchoring much more reliable and also enables hand-tracking, something Quest users will be familiar with. It’s also got features we long to see in cheaper headsets, like eye-tracking via two infrared cameras. In other words, this is a technological smorgasbord with a bit of everything included.
Making AR A Cosy Fit
Anyone that wore the original HoloLens for more than a minute knew just how uncomfortable the headset could get. It was heavy, bulky and pinched my nose, making it hard to have it on for a long time. Improving comfort was of huge importance to Microsoft for its follow-up and, I have to say, they more than pulled it off.
The device weighs in at 566 grams, which is almost exactly the same weight as the Oculus Quest 1 and about 70 or so grams heavier than Quest 2. However, by storing much of its compute at the back of the device alongside the dial for the headstrap, HoloLens 2 feels far more comfortable than almost any VR headset I’ve used. A brow pad perfectly cushions the device on my forehead, leaving enough space that it doesn’t even really rest on my nose at all. That story will be different for everyone, of course, but of the people I know that have tried the device, basically no one has complained about comfort.
You’re even able to instantly flip the visor upward, removing the lenses from sight when necessary, and the back dial paired with the top strap means finding the right fit for you takes just a few seconds. This is, of course, still an incredibly bulky and awkward-looking piece of kit that you wouldn’t dream of wearing outside, but when I first tired HoloLens 2 in 2019 I said it was an AR headset so comfortable that I could actually see myself using it every day (at least indoors). Having now had that opportunity, that holds true.
Magic Right In Front Of Your Eyes
HoloLens 2’s lenses are transparent, but not fully, so the view is a little darker than the real world. The virtual objects displayed aren’t fully opaque – Microsoft calls them holograms. That said, they’re anchored solidly in place and feel believable. There’s no denying the magic of experiencing head-worn AR for the first time. Even the kit’s introductory Tips app proves to be a moreish treat, showing a virtual hummingbird that flutters about as if it really is there.
Unlike VR, which is — in its current form — mostly preoccupied with games and entertainment, HoloLens 2 shows you why AR has such remarkable potential for productivity and education. With the headset’s new collaborative platform, Microsoft Mesh, I’m able to host meetings with other people that have genuine, tangible advantages over web calls, social VR platforms and physical meetings. We can pass around 3D assets and renders, for example, using incredibly intuitive hand-tracking with pinch and grab gestures. But, if I need to access my phone, PC, or grab something from another room then HoloLens 2 doesn’t require me to remove the headset like VR would. Removing barriers like this might seem superficial, but in practice it’s anything but, and demonstrates how AR can be a truly useful tool.
Reaching out and grabbing these images often works well, too. Thanks to its depth-sensor, HoloLens 2’s hand-tracking is incredibly solid – far more so than what’s currently on offer with the Quest 2. Simply pinching a 3D asset will let you grab it and move it with your hand, and you can use the ‘Air Tap’ with your thumb and index finger, paired with pointers, to manipulate objects and windows from afar. I had very little issue with these sorts of gestures, but there are some caveats we’ll get to in a bit. You can also basically voice operate the device by bringing up a pointer to look at options and then speaking to select them.
Meanwhile, using Microsoft Edge, Photos and Firefox Reality, I can place browser and playback apps around physical space, not as tabs but as whole-other screens that anchor to a space and are ready to just reach out and touch. No smartphone-style app juggling – everything you need can be laid out right in front of you. Concepts like these are undoubtedly going to play a big part in AR’s future but, with HoloLens 2, you can already get a taste of it.
Illusions Revealed
But, marvellous as this all is, there’s some big drawbacks. Field of view (FOV) is the big one. Again, HoloLens 2 improves on the FOV of the original, but the horizontal FOV of 43° and a vertical of 29° only captures a very small slice of the world around you. Unless you’re standing at a distance, the images you’re viewing inside of HoloLens 2 will likely be cut off by restrictive borders that are a real pain to try and work with. It is, without a doubt, the headset’s biggest flaw and the primary reason that, as impressive as it is, HoloLens 2 doesn’t feel ready for mass adoption.
Interacting with this new world can also be a bit of a mixed bag. Yes, hand-tracking is mostly dependable but, paired with the limited FOV it can make interacting with apps a hassle. It isn’t 1:1, which makes interactions feel sluggish compared to the responsiveness of a PC or VR controller, and it also struggles with occlusion and the tracking’s field of view.
Take the browser, for example. If I want to interact with a webpage, I want to bring the screen close to me so I’m not reaching out too far every time I want to select something. But doing that cuts off half the page from view, meaning I need to anchor my neck to scroll up and down the field of view. It makes web-browsing much more strenuous and sluggish than it is with a keyboard and mouse. That may speak more to the need to redesign the web for AR than AR’s need to accommodate current formats, but it’s still a problem in the here and now.
Moreover, typing on the virtual keyboard can only be done with your index fingers, which slows web-browsing considerably (though Bluetooth keyboard and mouse support is included), and it also means you’ll be tracking your hands as you use other devices which, as I write this review on my laptop, I’m learning can be troublesome (though, again, you can just flick the visor away in an instant).
Battery life, meanwhile, varies. You could keep the device on your head and only use it intermittently for about three hours of life, but constant use in something like Mesh will bring that crashing down to around the two hour mark if not less. Elsewhere, you’ll notice some screen hitches from time to time, be it momentary distortion inside the lenses or jitters in image placement. Sometimes I’d select apps and the device would unexpectedly restart and, on the unit I was using I also noticed some lag when trying to scroll through the Microsoft Store or use browser apps.
Touching Windows 10
HoloLens 2 essentially runs on Windows 10. If you’ve used one of the Windows VR headsets like the HP Reverb G2 (which is also labelled ‘Mixed Reality’), you’ll be familiar with the layout – a home window gets you to your different apps and the Microsoft Store to download new ones. Touching your wrist below your palm brings up the menu where you can access your library of content.
This is where it’s perhaps most important to remember the market HoloLens 2 is designed for and why it exists. At the end of the day, most of the HoloLens customers out there are using it for a specific purpose, not as an all-in-one entertainment and work device. There isn’t much to actually ‘do’ inside HoloLens 2, but it isn’t really fair to judge it on that criteria, because that isn’t what it’s here for. Almost everything on the device is either a proof of concept tech demo or an enterprise application that requires approval to properly access.
You will find some small demos for games and other experiential pieces. I’ve been quite taken with Ford’s GT App, which takes you on a history of the classic car. A detailed 3D model sits on a surface to be studied and altered like a toy from the future, and there’s minigames involved too. There are several other educational apps in this vein and, if you are interested in gaming, there’s a short little puzzler that requires you to guide a robot around a level, interacting with different elements, though nothing on the scale of the Minecraft cross-play support we saw at E3 years ago.
That said, HoloLens 2 is as much about software evolution as it is hardware, and that’s where Microsoft Mesh comes in. Mesh is a framework for building shared AR experiences that can also be cross-platform, working with VR headsets and PCs/smartphones too. Right now Microsoft’s own Mesh preview app is the only place to experience it but it really is an impressive thing and feels like you’re inviting people into your own home to socialize and collaborate with. Once developers really start utilizing the platform for apps designed for the mass market, HoloLens itself will become a much more compelling platform.
Conclusion
Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 is a proof of concept device that sows the seeds for a revolution, if not launching one off of its own back. Even as an enterprise-only device free from the demands of consumer perfection, the headset’s limited field of view and imperfect interaction give it a distinctly experimental feel. Many of the things you’ve dreamed of doing with AR, from remote work meetups via Mesh to virtual, TV-less video playback are possible inside this headset, but implementation is often primitive, buggy and restricted, not because Microsoft has done a bad job realizing its vision so much as it is wrestling with what’s possible with current breakthroughs.
But consider what HoloLens 2 is really designed to do – it’s not an all-day wearable that seamlessly bounces back and forth between productivity and play. It’s often sold directly to businesses for specific purposes, most likely used in bursts of 10 – 20 minutes. Specific as that may be, there isn’t anything else that can match HoloLens 2’s feature-set. The technology to make AR a truly viable new medium can be glimpsed in HoloLens 2, but it’s going to be a long time yet before it’s fully realized. When it finally arrives, though, Microsoft will no doubt be very glad it had this head start.
Enquiries about buying HoloLens 2 can be made via an official site. Did you enjoy our HoloLens 2 review? Let us know in the comments below!
Following a prototyping phase started in 2019, Microsoft and the United States Army have announced they are moving to a production phase of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), based on HoloLens 2 technology, through a contract worth up to $22 billion.
In 2019, Microsoft announced it was working with the US Army to prototype and test the IVAS system, an AR headset designed for both training and live battlefield use, based on Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 technology.
Image courtesy Microsoft
What started as a $480 million deal has now ballooned into a contract worth up to $21.88 billion, according to Microsoft, with an initial five year timeline and an option for an additional five years.
The US Army announced the contract last week as a “fixed price production agreement to manufacture the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS)” aimed at moving the project into a “production and rapid fielding” phase.
According to the US Army, the IVAS system is designed to streamline existing vision-enhancing and immersive training capabilities into a single platform.
“The suite of capabilities leverages existing high-resolution night, thermal, and Soldier-borne sensors integrated into a unified Heads Up Display to provide the improved situational awareness, target engagement, and informed decision-making necessary to achieve overmatch against current and future adversaries,” the US Army writes. “The system also leverages augmented reality and machine learning to enable a life-like mixed reality training environment so the Close Combat Force can rehearse before engaging any adversaries.”
Both Microsoft and the US Army paint the IVAS project as a “non-traditional” collaboration between the Army and a technology company, rather than a defense contractor. The organizations claim the direct collaboration has significantly increased the speed of development for the project.
Microsoft initially began selling HoloLens 2 to enterprise customers back in late 2019, but a broader rollout has taken quite some time. Earlier this year the company began selling the headset directly to individuals, and now its expanding the scope of sales to 15 more countries. Microsoft also announced today that the promised ‘Development Edition’ of the headset, which includes $1,250 in free developer resources, is now available in the US and coming to more countries by year’s end.
HoloLens 2 is Microsoft’s enterprise-focused AR headset which the company initially launched late last year with limited availability to select partners. Over the course of 2020 the headset has become much easier to get your hands on; in June the company finally opened up direct orders, allowing anyone to buy their very own HoloLens 2, even without the express backing of a large enterprise.
Now Microsoft is expanding the regions where it will sell HoloLens 2 to 15 new countries: Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The company says South Korea will be added to the list “later this fall.”
Image courtesy Microsoft
In addition to broadening sales, Microsoft today announced that the ‘HoloLens 2 Development Edition‘ package is now available in the United States. While you could previously buy the ‘Device Only’ package for $3,500, the ‘Development Edition’ is the same price but includes $1,250 of free developer tools:
HoloLens 2 Development Edition
Value (MSRP; in $USD)
HoloLens 2 device
$3,500
Azure credits
$500
3-month Unity Pro license
$450
3-month Pixyz Plugin license
$300
Total Development Edition Value
$4,750
Total cost of Development Edition
$3,500
The ‘Development Edition’ is, as the name implies, made for developers who want create AR applications that run on the headset. And while you’re getting some extra value in developer tools for the same price, Microsoft’s fine print indicates that HoloLens 2 Development Edition headsets are “not permitted to be deployed with a commercially distributed solution;” meaning they can’t loaned or sold to another company as part of a business-to-business product.
Microsoft says that the HoloLens 2 Development Edition will become available in 10 additional countries by the end of the year: Canada, Germany, France, UK, Ireland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Italy.
In early 2021 the company says its previously promised financing option—allowing developers to buy the headset by paying in increments of $100 per month—will become available in “early 2021.”
HoloLens 2 has been available to Microsoft business partners and developers since last year, however anyone else interested in the augmented reality headset would have to jump through a few hoops first to get their hands on the device. Now Microsoft has opened sales of HoloLens 2 to anyone with the cash on hand.
Up until now, prospective HoloLens 2 owners would have to either contact an official reseller or sign up for a special developers program, making this the first time when John Q. Public could buy a HoloLens 2 direct from Microsoft without any additional fuss.
Customers will be able to buy the $3,500 headset itself and a host of replacement accessories including a carrying case, a USB-C charger, straps, and forehead pads of varying sizes. All of those come in the box already, but it’s nice to know you can buy a spare if need be.
Image courtesy Microsoft
Microsoft is only selling HoloLens 2 direct to online customers, so you most likely won’t be able to buy it in a Microsoft Store.
We first went hands-on with HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) last year, and it proved to be a capable AR headset that, despite some misgivings on how the field of view was initial misrepresented at its reveal at the Barcelona-based trade show, showed some real material improvements over its predecessor.
It packs in a number of features not present in the original 2015-era HoloLens, the most prominent of which is eye-tracking. Eye-tracking not only lets users select UI elements simply by looking at them, but also allows developers to know where a user is looking to better optimize AR apps by better understanding user behavior. Check out the full specs below:
HoloLens 2 Specs
Display
Optics: See-through holographic lenses (waveguides) Resolution: 2k 3:2 light engines Holographicdensity: >2.5k radiants (light points per radian) Eye-based rendering: Display optimization for 3D eye position
Sensors
Head tracking: 4 visible light cameras Eye tracking: 2 IR cameras Depth: 1-MP Time-of-Flight (ToF) depth sensor IMU: Accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer Camera: 8-MP stills, 1080p30 video
Hand tracking: Two-handed fully articulated model, direct manipulation Eye tracking: Real-time tracking Voice: Command and control on-device; natural language with internet connectivity Windows Hello: Enterprise-grade security with iris recognition
Spatial has been developing its combined virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) collaboration platform for a while now, looking to help teams work together no matter where they are or what platform they’re on. The current coronavirus pandemic has forced this kind of technology into the forefront of peoples minds, in doing so changing Spatial’s plans in the process. Which is why today the tech startup has announced the platform is now freely accessible for a range of devices including Oculus Quest.
The Spatial app allows users to get together, discuss projects, import content such as 3D models and even share their PC screens, all from inside their device. One of Spatial’s most interesting features to make the experience more personable is the use of realistic avatars, where users upload a selfie which is then made into a 3D model.
Designed as an enterprise solution, the opening up of Spatial’s premium services to everyone free of charge means whether you’re in VR or on an iPhone you can test the service out. As for the Oculus Quest version, that was only ever available in private beta, with Spatial pushing ahead with development in the last few months to ensure a public version could be released.
“Now is a time when feeling connected is needed more than ever, and while video chat is great, it just doesn’t replace people collaborating in the same room,” said Spatial CEO Anand Agarawala in a statement. “Over the last few weeks we’ve seen a surge in interest for Spatial’s services, ranging from Fortune 1000s, to schools and hospitals, to SMBs. We really wanted to respond to the global need and make Spatial Enterprise freely available to serve as many people as possible as we all navigate new territory with home and work life.”
“By opening up our immersive collaboration platform and allowing access on the devices people already have, we hope to connect more people in a way that isn’t confined by space, location, or even a pandemic,” adds Spatial CPO Jinha Lee.
Spatial offers one of the most device-agnostic platforms for remote networking, supporting Oculus Quest, Magic Leap, Microsoft HoloLens 1 & 2, Android, iOS, Nreal, PC and via web app. Free access will only be available for the next few months to help people connect during the pandemic. Once it has subsided Spatial will return to a premium service model.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Spatial, reporting back with the latest updates.
Microsoft started shipping HoloLens 2 back in November 2019, but it’s been a slow rollout to select customers. While the company says it has shipped “tens of thousands” of HoloLens 2 headset to “hundreds” of enterprise customers, it hasn’t been easy to get hands on one as a smaller company or individual. Now, Microsoft says, that’s changing.
HoloLens 2 is Microsoft’s enterprise-focused AR headset. So it makes sense that the company prioritized filling the orders of big enterprise customers before the rest (and perhaps while making some fixes to the headset’s display).
Today, some five months after the headset’s soft-ish launch, Microsoft says it’s ready to expand availability of HoloLens 2.
But you can’t go to the HoloLens site and actually order one just yet. In an email, the company said that it’s starting to reach out to those who previously signed up to be notified of the headset’s availability.
“Microsoft Store agents are connecting with everyone who submitted a form, starting with those who signed up first and working to the present. Given the unprecedented demand, this may take some time,” the email reads.
This sounds like the company still doesn’t have enough supply to offer a straightforward ordering system without risking a huge backorder, but it wants to being the process of expanding the rollout of HoloLens 2 to a broader range and type of customer. If you want to get in line, head over to the HoloLens 2 buy page and submit your inquiry.
Microsoft has been advertising three pricing options for HoloLens 2. There’s the ‘device only’ package for $3,500, an enterprise-focused package with bundled software for $125 per user per month, and a development edition for $100 per month.
Nreal is teasing an enterprise-focused standalone AR headset for launch in Q4 2020, a variant of its Nreal Light AR glasses.
The company released a darkened concept image of the headset, which we’ve brightened here:
This would be Nreal’s second product. Their first, Nreal Light , is pair of AR glasses intended for consumers. Nreal planned to ship the Light in 2019, but delayed until spring 2020. However, production was recently halted due to the novel coronavirus. Nreal seems to expect to be able to produce hardware at scale later this year though, it seems.
The Nreal Light glasses are tethered to either a high end recent Android phone or an Nreal compute pack. But Nreal’s new all-in-one would integrate the chip into the headset, preferred by professionals and enterprise because it’s easier to deploy and maintain one device per user than two.
From the looks of the sketches on the marketing materials, the chip and battery are likely in the backplate on the rear of the user’s head.
Nreal expanding to enterprise mirrors the path of Magic Leap One, which also started with consumers. For Magic Leap, this followed a report from The Informationclaiming the company sold just 6,000 units in the first six months, in contrast to its target of 100,000 per year — itself a revision from the CEO’s expectation of 1 million.
AR headsets haven’t appealed to consumers yet, due to the high price and relative infancy of the still-bulky technology. We’re still years away from the realization of all day lightweight AR glasses many dream of. We’ll see if Nreal is able prove an early adopter market with Light when it is finally able to manufacture at scale.
This is the opposite of Microsoft’s strategy. Its HoloLens found adoption by enterprise and militaries. Large companies and governments can afford the sticker price, and AR can be useful for training, collaboration, and visualization.
Nreal clearly wants in on this market, given the company has already built much of the technology needed by developing consumer glasses. Whether it can build the same software ecosystem and platform is yet to be seen, but support for regular Android apps should make this task easier.
Nreal hasn’t released a price yet, but told VentureBeat it will be higher than the $1200 Light + compute pack, but “competitive”. Magic Leap One is priced at $3000 and HoloLens 2 is priced at $3500.
When it comes to enterprise use cases for virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technology, two of the main areas of interest are training and collaboration. DXC Technology specialises in helping companies improve productivity, quality and efficiency through interactive means. Today, DXC has announced that water treatment leader Ixom will be using Microsoft’s HoloLens headset for training and research purposes.
Working in the water treatment and chemical distribution sector across Australia and New Zealand, Ixom asked DXC Technologies to develop a custom application to cover those aforementioned needs. Prior to utilising mixed reality (MR) Ixom’s training and learning assessments were conducted at customer sites, requiring travel, scheduling and employee resources to mitigate safety risks.
Using the new HoloLens app Ixom employees are able to participate in training and learning assessments from any office or remote location. The company has found an increase in flexibility, autonomy and mobility, thus reducing travel costs and minimizing employee safety risks. The added benefit being the reduced exposure to hazardous materials during training at treatment facilities.
“Digital transformation in the workplace is edging towards an inflection point as enterprises are incorporating immersive solutions that connect the real world with the virtual world,” said Maria Pardee, DXC’s senior vice president and general manager, Workplace and Mobility in a statement. “DXC is using the power of AR, VR and MR to align the next-generation digital capabilities employees want so they can be more mobile and independent, with the critical security, production prowess and agility that today’s businesses demand.”
According to a recent report by Gartner ‘Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2019‘, in the next couple of years: “70% of enterprises will be experimenting with immersive technologies for consumer and enterprise use, and 25% will have deployed to production.” Another interesting enterprise use case is collaboration, most recently seen at CES 2020 from the likes of developers such as Spatial, creating a tool across AR and VR platforms for colleagues to work together remotely.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of the enterprise sector, reporting back with the latest announcements.
Working in the water treatment and chemical distribution sector across Australia and New Zealand, Ixom asked DXC Technologies to develop a custom application to cover those aforementioned needs. Prior to utilising mixed reality (MR) Ixom’s training and learning assessments were conducted at customer sites, requiring travel, scheduling and employee resources to mitigate safety risks.
DXC Technologies has a range of solutions for those companies interested in deploying VR/AR technologies across their workforces such as