Tag: augmented reality

HoloLens has a very short battery life, drawing criticism

| January 21, 2016

Microsoft’s augmented reality glasses can run for only up to 5 hours before they need to be plugged in.

A recent presentation made by Bruce Harris, the Microsoft technical evangelist, in Tel Aviv, revealed several pieces of insight about the augmented reality Hololens headset, some of which impressed the tech industry and some of which is turning out to be a bit of a disappointment.

Though many details had been revealed back in October, this recent presentation offered more insight.

Back in the original demonstration of HoloLens by Microsoft, last October, there was a great deal revealed about the function of the augmented reality device. However, some key factors were absent in that presentation, including battery life, pricing and other additional functionalities. Now, the recent Tel Aviv presentation from Bruce Harris has shown a great deal more of the finer points surrounding this gadget.

Harris explained that, depending on its usage, HoloLens will last only 2.5 to 5.5 hours before needing to recharge.

HoloLens Draws CriticismThis suggests that if anyone were to invest in one of these devices, they may also want to have a good portable charger with them, as well. After all, using the headset for routine activities will give the individual only just over five hours. However, when pushing the device a little bit harder, that battery life can shrink down to 2.5 hours. For that to become a practical device it will need to be used alongside an external battery pack.

Harris also went on to say that HoloLens will be capable of running virtually any Universal app and it is currently operating on Windows 10 out of the box. Also pointed out in the presentation was that when the headset becomes consumer ready, it will be “totally wireless” and will be capable of connecting to any Bluetooth device or WiFi network. Of course, if WiFi drains this device as much as it can take down many smartphones and tablets, this will only reinforce the need for a portable charger that will be able to recharge it a few times each day.

When it comes to field of view, the HoloLens should provide an experience that can be compared to that of a 15 inch monitor. This field of view was selected in order to make it possible for Microsoft to provide optimal production capabilities in order to keep costs manageable.

Augmented reality based Star Wars tease issued by Project Tango

| December 29, 2015

Google’s new video offered a mixed-reality style environment to bring digital and physical objects together.

Trixi Studios recently released a video that brought the new BB-8 Star Wars droid into a fun new augmented reality based environment in which digital objects were brought into the physical environment.

This experience was meant to provide Star Wars fans with a fun glimpse into what AR technology can do.

Despite the fact that Project Tango at Google and Hololens from Microsoft are both considered to be in the early phases of development, they are both working at full tilt to try to make the augmented reality experience more broadly available. Some of the recent releases have include the Hololens development kit from Microsoft that comes with a price tag of $3,000, while the development kit from Project Tango is a notably more affordable $512. The release of the Star Wars simulation was only one of a range of AR technology based teasers that have been released over YouTube in recent weeks.

There have also been several other players that have been strutting their augmented reality stuff.

Among them was the rather mysterious Magic Leap, which has been quite secretive about what it’s been up to. That said, it didn’t hold off releasing its own AR technology based video recently. With each new release, it becomes more clear that the tech has quite a bit to offer in terms of a unique and fascinating experience for users.

When it comes to the more recent Star Wars video, while the BB-8 droid was featured, it wasn’t the only character that made its way into the spotlight. In fact, there were several character interactions available as the creator of the video made it possible to provide digital representations of Boba Fett and Stormtroopers to be fought off.

While it is clear in the videos that the animations remain in earlier forms, the point wasn’t to show how accurate and detailed the animations could be. Instead, it was a fascinating demonstration of the type of features augmented reality could have to offer. The fact that top Star Wars characters were brought into the mix showed that there is some meaningful potential on the fun side of the spectrum.