HoloLens is one of Microsoft's most important new products, but it won't soon be the only holographic experience.
Microsoft is opening up the Windows 10 holographic platform to other manufacturers. In other words, we'll soon see HoloLens clones popping up everywhere.
While the holographic platform doesn't support Oculus' virtual reality standard, Microsoft believes the game will be playable in practical applications of augmented reality (it prefers the term "mixed reality").
Mixed reality will allow the virtual experience to interact with the real world. Additionally, Windows Holographic will allow multiple devices to interact with each other, sharing a common virtual space.
Microsoft's approach wants to bring people, objects, and devices under a single mixed reality platform. Perhaps that's why Microsoft calls it "mixed." The new technology isn't just about supplementing our world with new data by creating a completely artificial world, but is said to be about seamlessly integrating virtual reality and the real world.
The benefit for developers? Of course, with the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps can be developed and will run in a holographic or virtual experience. Oculus may have the lead, but Microsoft has the breadth of an ever-growing ecosystem with Windows 10.
Opening up HoloLens will give consumers more options, and clones, but the biggest benefit for consumers will likely be the price.
HoloLens currently costs $3,000, but third-party manufacturers will likely come out with lower prices.
Increased competition means better VR and AR for everyone, bringing us closer to creating a society that lives in the Matrix, not to mention its world….
