Category: Microsoft

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GDC 2017: Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Content Is Coming To Project Scorpio In 2018

GDC 2017: Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Content Is Coming To Project Scorpio In 2018

One of the biggest questions surrounding Microsoft’s mixed reality platform, Windows Holographic, is if it will support the company’s mysterious Project Scorpio. Today, we can confirm it will.

Microsoft is rolling out development kits for the first VR headset made by Acer later this month, but in a blog post announcing that news, it dropped an even juicier detail. It notes that the company is looking to take its platform beyond “mixed reality-ready” desktops and its own MR headset, HoloLens, stating: “Our plan is to bring mixed reality content to the Xbox One family of devices, including Project Scorpio, in 2018.”

The wording is very specific, but it does at the very least confirm that immersive, reality-altering content made for the Windows Holographic platform is on the way to Scorpio, the company’s upgraded take on the Xbox One. The device was announced at last year’s E3 where Head of Xbox Phil Spencer noted it would support “high fidelity VR”, though it remains shrouded in mystery for now.

We spoke to Alex Kipman, Technical Fellow at Microsoft, ahead of this announcement. While he also didn’t specifically state that the headsets would support Scorpio, he did assure that these would be “entertainment” devices, which is why “we added a blurb in the blog that says  we’re also bringing support for our Xbox family of products to these things in 2018 inclusive of Scorpio.”

Furthermore, Microsoft pointed game developers interested in working with its headsets to the ID@Xbox program, an initiative designed to get indie developers making games for Xbox One and Windows 10.

A Microsoft spokesperson declined to confirm that the headsets would support Scorpio, but did offer the following statement:

Windows Mixed Reality experiences will light up on other devices, including Xbox One, over time. Developers can start crafting their mixed reality gaming experiences this year on the desktop to bring them to Xbox One in 2018. Beyond that, we have nothing else to announce today.

There’s a lot to unpack from these statements. Firstly, Project Scorpio is shaping up to launch in the holiday 2017 period, so it sounds like mixed reality support won’t be included out of the box, instead arriving next year. It’s own VR devices are also set to launch this holiday.

The mention of “Xbox One family” also suggests the original console might support this content too, which wasn’t stated before. In the past Microsoft has said that Scorpio won’t have exclusive games, and suggested its MR devices won’t need a high-powered PC to run.

What we still don’t know is what VR headset will support these consoles. Microsoft’s headsets seem a likely option, but could it go beyond that to also support the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive? We’ll likely have to wait until E3 2017 to find out more, and Microsoft has already set its press conference date for Sunday, June 11th, a day earlier than it usually is.

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GDC 2017: Microsoft Shipping VR Dev Kits This Month, Full Launch This Holiday Season

GDC 2017: Microsoft Shipping VR Dev Kits This Month, Full Launch This Holiday Season

Microsoft’s VR headsets, made in partnership with major companies, remain shrouded in mystery at the moment, but select developers will start getting a peak behind the curtain later this month.

The company today confirmed that development kits for its first partner device, made by Acer, will be rolling out in stages starting this March. In fact, any developer that attended its mixed reality session at the 2017 Game Developers Conference today received a ‘Golden Ticket’ that will get them a unit in the coming weeks.

Acer’s headset features two LCD panels at 1440 x 1440 resolution, a 90Hz refresh rate, built-in audio and microphone support, and is connected to a PC via HDMI 2.0 and USB 3.0.

The most important feature, of course, is the inside-out tracking supported in all of Microsoft’s mixed reality devices, including HoloLens. This on-board positional tracking system negates the need for external sensors tracking a headset and controller’s location as seen with the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR.

Developer kits will feature access to Windows 10 Insider preview builds and the software development kit (SDK) needed to start building mixed reality apps.

The consumer version of the kit will be launching this holiday season along with other Microsoft headsets from Dell, ASUS, HP, 3DGlasses, and Lenovo, the latter of which we saw as a shell at CES earlier this year. Speaking to UploadVR, Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman outlined the holiday season as “something that starts in October and ends at Black Friday/Thanksgiving,” giving us a pretty clear month-long window for launch.

As for the uses cases when the devices launch, Kipman assured that they would very much be “consumer devices”, used for both interactive content like creation apps and consumptive software like watching movies or streaming games. No one at the company has outright said these headsets will support the Xbox One and Project Scorpio consoles yet, but they have heavily implied that will happen next year.

We’ll next see the headsets at the company’s Build developer conference in May, and after that we’d expect to hear more at E3. There’s still a lot of ground to cover, before launch.

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HoloLens is Helping This Medical Company Design Better Operating Rooms

HoloLens is Helping This Medical Company Design Better Operating Rooms

Microsoft is talking for the first time today about a new customer of its HoloLens augmented reality headset: publicly traded medical device company Stryker. Stryker sells forceps, drills, nasal dressings, and hip replacement systems, but it also sells equipment for operating rooms. The HoloLens is a tool that Stryker can use to help hospital employees figure out the best arrangements for their operating rooms.

This is important because multiple kinds of medical practitioners typically share each operating room, and finding something that’s suitable for everyone involved can be time-consuming.

“Using HoloLens and Stryker’s new By Design solution, hospital stakeholders are now able to envision the ideal operating room configuration with the power of holograms and the benefit of mixed reality,” HoloLens and Windows Experiences general manager Lorraine Bardeen wrote in a blog post. “Instead of needing all of the people from each surgical discipline, all the physical equipment required across all medical disciplines, all in one room at the same time, Stryker is now able to modify and build different operating room scenarios with holograms. No more time-consuming sessions where everyone needs to be physically present and no more need to move around heavy and expensive equipment to get a sense for how everything all fits together.”

This isn’t the first health care customer for HoloLens, which was first unveiled two years ago. CAE, Case Western Reserve University, and Cleveland Clinic have previously been public about their use of the device, whose developer editioncosts $3,000. Outside of health care, other customers include Lowe’s, ThyssenKrupp, and Volvo.

Over the weekend, Brad Sams at Thurrott.com, citing unnamed sources, reported that Microsoft has canceled the development of the second version of the HoloLens and has moved its focus to a third version ahead of a 2019 release. While Magic Leap has faced questions about the state of its technology in recent months, the venture-backed startup does represent competition to the HoloLens. Microsoft already has customers for the version that exists today, and if Sams’ report is right, the company is eager to get a more impressive rethinking of the product out to customers sooner.

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This post originally appeared on VentureBeat by Jordan Novet.

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Report: Microsoft Might Not Update HoloLens Hardware Until 2019

Report: Microsoft Might Not Update HoloLens Hardware Until 2019

A report on Thurrott.com indicates Microsoft is skipping an incremental hardware update to its Hololens in favor of a generational upgrade in 2019.

The post by Brad Sams says tips he received from “several sources” indicated Microsoft canceled its second version of Hololens to focus on a third version that will take longer to ship but provide a bigger improvement. The article frames this as Microsoft deciding it has “a large lead in the AR space and isn’t feeling pressure to release a product that is only an incremental update.”

From the post:

By skipping what was version two on their roadmap, the company can accelerate version three which will be closer to a generational leap and help keep Microsoft ahead of the competition. My sources are telling me that this version of Hololens will not arrive until 2019.

This framing of the information could be representative of Microsoft’s outlook. After all, Hololens as a self-contained unit with solid inside-out positional tracking is in a class of its own right now. But we’ve also heard reports suggesting that not many of the $3,000 headsets have been sold. The high price of Hololens could mean only developers contracted to make business, medical or industrial applications are likely to find success in the near-term. Now early adopters are essentially being told not to expect an upgrade soon. Developers who hoped for a rapid follow up from Microsoft that would be less expensive and appeal to a larger segment of buyers are going to have to bootstrap their ideas for longer, or find another way to head to market more quickly.

I reached out to Microsoft for comment and received the following prepared statement:

Mixed reality is the future of computing, and Microsoft HoloLens is the future and present of mixed reality. Our commitment requires no roadmap.

Of course, developer kits for VR headsets compatible with new versions of Microsoft’s Windows are set to be released at GDC. These upcoming headsets will feature a range of specifications, allowing Microsoft partners to release a variety of hardware solutions with different capabilities priced all the way down to $300. These systems could provide an alternate route to market for some developers already familiar with Windows and its mixed reality tools.

It is also worth noting we are waiting to see how Microsoft will work with the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift going forward. As owner of the Windows operating system, Microsoft has enormous power in issuing future updates to the software and determining how VR and AR hardware will interact with it. With Hololens hardware updates potentially pushed to 2019, is it more important that Microsoft start generating revenue right now from all VR and AR headsets which use Windows?

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Augmented Reality: Microsoft beschleunigt Entwicklung von HoloLens V3

Es war etwas mehr als zwei Jahre her, dass Microsoft der Welt zum ersten Mal die HoloLens zeigte. Das Unternehmen sorgte mit ihrer neuen Vision damals sofort für Schlagzeilen rund um den Globus. Seit dieser Ankündigung hat Microsoft das Augmented Reality Prototyp-Gerät in Produktion gebracht und es kann heute gekauft werden – auch wenn es ziemlich teuer ausfällt. Nun soll direkt zur HoloLens V3 gesprungen werden.

Ein Sprung in der Entwicklungsphase

Als die erste Version von Hololens herauskam, schuf Microsoft eine Roadmap, die mehrere Veröffentlichungstermine für das Produkt hervorgehoben hatte. Dies ist nicht ungewöhnlich: Nach dem Verkaufsstart mit einem neuen Gerät, sind Geräte der zweiten Generation in der Regel kleiner und erschwinglicher. Mit Version drei gibt es dann eine neue Technologie, welche die vorherigen Fassungen aktualisiert. Dies ist ein Standardprozess in der Technologieentwicklung. Microsoft soll in diesem Fall scheinbar auf Version zwei von HoloLens verzichten und direkt auf die Entwicklung von Version drei übergehen.

Warum tut Microsoft das? In den zwei Jahren seit der ersten Ankündigung des Geräts haben Unternehmen wie Magic Leap große Versprechen bezüglich ihrer Technologie gemacht und auf welche Art und Weise sie die Welt verändern wird. Heute könnt ihr Geräte von Magic Leap weder kaufen, noch gibt es ein Gerät für den Einzelhandel von einem anderen Unternehmen in diesem Bereich. Lediglich die Meta 2 Augmented Reality Brille – im Gegensatz zur Hololens kabelgebunden – ist derzeit für Entwickler verfügbar. Kurz gesagt: Microsoft besitzt gerade die Führung im AR-Bereich und hat nicht den Druck, ein Produkt zu veröffentlichen, das nur als eine Aktualisierung anzusehen ist.

Augmented Reality, microsoft hololens, virtual reality

HoloLens V3 soll die Konkurrenz abhängen

Durch das Überspringen von Version 2 auf ihrer Roadmap, kann das Unternehmen ihre Arbeiten an Version 3 beschleunigen. Damit sind sie näher an einem Generationssprung und können dazu beitragen, Microsoft weiter von der Konkurrenz abzuheben. 2019 ist noch weit entfernt, doch hätte Microsoft angefangen das zu entwickeln, was als Version zwei angedacht war, würde das Unternehmen nicht in der Lage sein, Version 3 bis 2019 herzustellen. Das Unternehmen geht also davon aus, dass die Fortschritte, die sie jetzt mit der 3er-Version von Hololens erzielen, signifikant genug sind und der Wert des Geräts ihre Martkführerschaft dauerhaft sichern kann.

Es ist wichtig zu beachten, dass Microsoft weiterhin stark in die Verbesserung der ersten Iteration mit aktualisierter Software investiert. Da im Augenblick kein anderer Hersteller ein Produkt dieser Art anbietet, ist die Arbeit an einem Gerät für 2019 sinnvoll, da sich ein Produkt ohne Konkurrenz schneller vermarkten lässt.

Microsoft wird langfristig an dieser Technologie arbeiten, um sicherzustellen, dass sie gut für die nächste Revolution im Computer-Bereich positioniert ist. Indem sie heute ihren Weg für HoloLens anpassen, sorgen sie dafür, dass sie in den kommenden Jahren konkurrenzfähig bleiben, denn auch Apple versucht den Augmented Reality Markt zu erobern.

(Quelle: Thurrott)

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Field in View: Microsoft And Sony Are Set To Battle For VR Dominance At E3 2017

Field in View: Microsoft And Sony Are Set To Battle For VR Dominance At E3 2017

As usual, Microsoft is firing first with its press conference this E3, but it’s doing so even earlier than anticipated. While the company usually rules the headlines on the Monday morning of the biggest week in gaming, this year it’s putting itself even further ahead of Sony’s traditional Monday evening conference (assuming it takes place at that time again), airing on Sunday, June 11th, at 2:00 PM PDT. It’s surprisingly early announcement of a press conference date indicates that this is going to be a significant showing for the company.

The picture of project Scorpio is a pretty good indicator, too.

This E3 is shaping up to be the biggest batle between Sony and Microsoft since 2013, the year where each had to convince gamers to buy a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One respectively. Microsoft’s more powerful, 4K-focused Xbox One is looming threateningly over Sony’s comfortable first-place position in this generation’s console war. PS4 Pro may already be offering enthusiasts enhanced performance and visuals, but Microsoft is positioning its device as a far more powerful iteration. It’s going to be a hugely interesting battle, and VR is going to play a big part in that.

Project Scorpio is reportedly capapble of “high fidelity VR”. Nearly a year on from its reveal and we still don’t know what that really means. What headset or headsets might Microsoft support on its console? How will experiences differ to those on PlayStation VR (PSVR)? Microsoft has a lot of questions to answer, especially with the reveal of its Windows 10 VR headsets.

Just how it tackles them, and Sony’s response, is likely going to be VR’s biggest story at this year’s show. Microsoft has a unique opportunity on the hardware front; if it utilizes PC-based headsets then there’s a good chance it will support devices with higher specs and better tracking that PlayStation VR, a device that allows you to lean into your virtual worlds, but doesn’t accomodate room scale and struggles with occlusion.

The added power of Scorpio could also give it a leg up. Last E3 Bethesda strongly hinted that Fallout 4 would support VR on Microsoft’s console, but there’s no such word on PSVR support. It’s a massive game to say the least, and it’s possible the PS4 (and original Xbox One) couldn’t handle it running in VR. A possible power gap could mean Scorpio is treated to many of the Rift and Vive games that haven’t seen PSVR ports yet.

In other words, Microsoft could be about to put Sony’s PSVR in a corner.

But Sony isn’t defenseless, however. With hardware out of the way, it only has to show us one thing at this year’s show: games. That’s an area that the company has handled very, very well on its wider console over the past few years. It’s past two press conferences have made the dreams of many a gamer come true; The Last Guardian, Shenmue 3, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, a new God of War, an exclusive game with Hideo Kojima, Resident Evil 7’s surprise reveal. This is a company that understands how to get the hardcore fanbase into a frenzy of excitement, and it needs to apply that to PSVR at this year’s show if it’s to drown out Scorpio.

While the rivalry between HTC and Oculus is currently VR’s biggest, I get the feeling that’s going to change this E3, as both major console makers welcome the technology into the fold. That might sound like an attempt to stoke the flames of fanboyism, but it’s really a statement of anticipation; rivalry eradicates complacency, and there’s no room for that in the VR industry right now.

So grab the popcorn and get comfy; it’s going to be one hell of a show.

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Microsoft: E3-Pressekonferenz verschoben auf Sonntag

Die E3 findet vom 13.-15. Juni statt und erstmals können auch Privatbesucher diese besuchen. Nach und nach werden nun bereits Termine für Konferenzen und Präsentationen mitgeteilt. Microsoft gab nun per Twitter bekannt, dass sie ihre Pressekonferenz vom gewohnten Montag auf den Sonntag davor verschoben wurde. Die Pressekonferenz wird somit am 11. Juni um 2:00 pm  PDT (23 Uhr MEZ) im Galen Center in Los Angeles stattfinden. Im Mittelpunkt der Konferenz wird zweifellos die Xbox One Scorpio stehen.

Ist die Xbox One Scorpio kompatibel mit einer VR-Brille?

Normalerweise hält Microsoft seine Pressekonferenzen am Montagmorgen ab und Publisher Sony lädt uns am selben Tag zur späteren Stunde ein. Mit der Verschiebung auf einen Tag früher, haben wir wohl einiges an Ankündigungen von Microsoft zu erwarten. Diesen früheren Termin, dem Wochenende vor der E3, nahmen im letzten Jahr auch Publisher EA und Besthesda wahr, Microsoft tut es ihnen nun gleich.

Womit wird Microsoft am Sonntag aufwarten?

„Macht euch gefasst auf große Neuigkeiten.“

So lautet der Tweet auf der Xbox-Seite auf dem wir außerdem das Motherboard der Project Scorpio sehen. Die Xbox One Scorpio wird also definitiv das größte Thema auf der Konfernz sein. Microsofts 4k-Version der Xbox One soll noch dieses Jahr erscheinen – verkündet wird auf der Xbox-Seite „Coming Holiday 2017“ – und kündigte des weiteren eine Unterstützung der Virtual Reality an. So sollte die Xbox One Scorpio den Spielern ein noch nie dagewesenes Hi-Fi Virtual Reality Spielerlebnis bieten können und Fallout 4 VR für die neue Konsole bekommen.

Leider verschwanden jegliche Erwähnungen der VR-Unterstützung von der XBox Webseite. Dies könnte heißen, dass die VR-Unterstützung für die XBox One Scorpio Probleme bereitet und im schlimmsten Fall sogar abgeschafft wurde. Allerdings sollte uns der vorverlegte Termin Hoffnung machen, das Microsoft etwas umwerfendes in petto hat und die Fakten am 11. Juni präsentiert.

Bis zur E3 im Juni müssen wir uns noch etwas gedulden, wenn aber weiterhin große Publisher Details zu ihre Konferenzen veröffentlichen, werden wir so einiges haben, auf das wir uns freuen dürfen!

(Quelle: Upload VR)

Der Beitrag Microsoft: E3-Pressekonferenz verschoben auf Sonntag zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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Microsoft Conference Could Set The Tone For E3 With Move To Sunday

Microsoft Conference Could Set The Tone For E3 With Move To Sunday

E3 hype is already in full swing and companies are starting to share bits of information about their appearances at the expo this June, even though GDC still hasn’t even happened yet. Perhaps most notably thus far, Microsoft has moved away from their typical conference showing. Usually, we’d get Microsoft’s conference early on Monday with Sony taking the late slot of that same day, but MS has moved an entire day earlier and will potentially set the tone for the week starting on Sunday.

Last year, Microsoft took steps to solidify current generation offerings with the Xbox One S while also sparking some excitement for the next generation of consoles with the announcement of Scorpio. Executives took the stage and set some lofty expectations for the mystery project, boasting of true 4k gaming and a multitude of teraflops and computing cores. Better yet, they claimed it would be VR capable and will reportedly receive Fallout 4 VR when it’s finished.

In fact, they even went so far as to proclaim on their website the Scorpio would be the only console capable of hi-fidelity VR gaming but that has changed since. If you look at their website currently, the “hi-fidelity VR” statement has been removed and there are no other mentions of VR at all — but the old video from June still retains the same language.

This isn’t to say that VR compatibility has been entirely scrapped, but it does at least allude to the project’s team taking a step back on their VR goals. Microsoft taking the Sunday slot all for themselves (save for perhaps Bethesda, if they choose to have their conference on Sunday for the third year in a row) could mean they’re incredibly confident in what they’re going to show and want that full day to let that energy permeate across the industry. They could also be gearing up for a blockbuster partnership related to VR, but we’ll have to wait and see.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) officially takes place June 14th-16th, but there will be conferences Microsoft, Sony, and others held starting on the 11th. This year, even the public is allowed to attend.

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