The Surface Studio was no doubt the highlight of last week’s Microsoft event, overshadowing the many other products and technology the company was also showcasing. One such announcement took many by surprise, myself included: Microsoft announced that they were entering the virtual reality business with their own headsets.
The headsets were a bombshell, mostly because everyone assumed Microsoft were focusing most of their resources towards development of the HoloLens, the company’s augmented reality device. Furthermore, compared to the competition, the headsets will be quite affordable, starting from $299. Microsoft would be making the headsets alongside partners such as Acer, HP, Dell, Lenovo and Asus.
Not much is known about the headsets, other than the fact that they will include inside-out tracking, eliminating the need for external cameras and sensors, something market leaders such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive employ. Furthermore, the headsets are expected to work natively with Windows 10, providing users with the Windows Holographic Shell experience. The devices are expected to retail after the Windows 10 Creator Update is released in March of next year.
The company will reveal more details about how the headsets will work next month when it hosts a couple of Windows Hardware Engineering Community (WinHEC) events – the first will be in Shenzen, China, on December 8-9; the second will be in Taipei, Taiwan from December 14-15.
Alex Kipman, who heads the HoloLens project at Microsoft, told Polygon in an interview that the headsets will be able to track the rotation of your head, as well as its position in space – similar to high-end headsets like the HTC Vive, but without the need for installing base stations in your room. However, whether it will be as accurate as the Vive remains to be seen.
