Microsoft today announced that its latest AR headset, HoloLens 2, is finally shipping. The headset can be purchased directly for $3,500 or rented for $125 per month.
Microsoft announced HoloLens 2 back in February and has started selling the headset today. Though pricey at $3,500, HoloLens 2 is actually cheaper than its predecessor which launched at $5,000. In addition to the outright purchase price, Microsoft is also renting headset to businesses for $125 per month, and will later launch a developer edition priced at $100 per month.
Image courtesy Microsoft
Like the original, HoloLens 2 is positioned as an enterprise-focused device. Microsoft envisions companies using the headset for design, remote assistance, training, visualization, collaboration, architecture, construction, and much more.
HoloLens 2 Specs
The official specs confirm the headset’s weight at 566 grams and ‘active use’ battery life at 2–3 hours. Here’s the full spec sheet:
Display
Optics
See-through holographic lenses (waveguides)
Resolution
2k 3:2 light engines
Holographic density
>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
Audio and speech
Microphone array
5 channels
Speakers
Built-in spatial sound
Human understanding
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
Environment understanding
6DoF tracking
World-scale positional tracking
Spatial Mapping
Real-time environment mesh
Mixed Reality Capture
Mixed hologram and physical environment photos and videos
Compute and connectivity
SoC
Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Compute Platform
HPU
Second-generation custom-built holographic processing unit
Memory
4-GB LPDDR4x system DRAM
Storage
64-GB UFS 2.1
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac 2×2)
Bluetooth
5
USB
USB Type-C
Fit
Single size
Fits over glasses
Weight
566g
Image courtesy WalkingCat
Aside from field of view and resolution improvements, HoloLens 2 also launches out of the gate with full hand-tracking. This is a huge improvement over the ‘air tap’ gesture that was relied upon with the original headset. With hand-tracking users will be able to more naturally and directly interact with augmented reality content.
Facebook’s AR/VR research division is developing a non-invasive brain scanning technology as a potential input device for its future consumer AR glasses.
While Facebook...
The official specs confirm the headset’s weight at 566 grams and ‘active use’ battery life at 2–3 hours. Here’s the full spec sheet:
