We’ve all heard of Microsoft’s HoloLens, the technological behemoth’s augmented reality headset. Since its announcement back in 2015 HoloLens has come a long way, with the company just recently unveiling “Holoportation”. Just today at Computex, the company revealed a demo version of “mixed reality”, a platform where VR headsets from other manufacturers can interact with the HoloLen’s. One such VR headset was the HTC Vive.
In order to do so, Microsoft has released their Holographic Operating System to other VR developers. This will enable VR headset makers to create “mixed reality” capable headsets. This in turn makes Windows Holographic a new platform to build on, and the key part is Microsoft’s perception APIs that power a lot of the HoloLens experiences. Microsoft isn’t currently expanding upon how exactly existing VR headsets will integrate Windows Holographic, but the company is working with a number of companies such as Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, HTC, Acer, ASUS, Dell, Falcon Northwest, HP, Lenovo, MSI, and others to make Windows Holographic a platform for VR as well as AR.
If a VR headset maker opts to use Windows Holographic then things like the Holographic shell (virtual Start menu), user interface, Windows Store, and Xbox Live services will all be available.
Luckily no extra hardware is needed for the switch but more details about the software and hardware will be unveiled at Microsoft’s WinHEC developer conference later this year. Microsoft have also released an update for the current HoloLens.
While the consumer edition of the Hololens still isn’t available for purchase, the developer kits started shipping out recently.
