At their Windows 10 Event today in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft unveiled features for its forthcoming operating system that it feels could revolutionize computing, particularly for people who want to design, make or fix something in the real world: holographics. The company revealed both the Windows Holographic features that will be built into Windows 10 and HoloLens, an in-house designed headset that will be capable of placing holographic elements into the world around you - think of it as a combination of the flat augmented reality overlay in Google Glass, and the immersive yet virtual-only presentation of Oculus Rift.
The video trailer above shows the far-reaching implications for a variety of designers, both professional and amateur (including a nod to the architecture profession at the 50-second mark), with TechCrunch explaining how the technology "offers a way for architects to survey and present their designs alongside clients even when separated by great distances."
Presented by Alex Kipman, the engineer credited with developing Microsoft's Kinect, the technology behind Microsofts holograms has apparently been in development, in secret, for years. It incorporates a wide variety of features for designing, gaming, and simply adding useful features to your everyday life. What's more, like Oculus Rift and similar developments that combine real space and the digital world, Microsoft is opening the technology as much as possible for external developers to create previously-unconsidered applications of the technology: according to ZDNet, Kipman states "developers: Windows 10 is yours. All universal apps can be made to work with Windows Holographic."
Though release dates have not been announced, Engadget reports that the technology will be available "in the Windows 10 time frame."
Story via TechCrunch, ZDNet, Engadget
