Hololens 2:: A long waiting for an upgrade is finally over

The Microsoft Hololens came in 2016 and was a revolution in the field of AR (Augmented Reality). A self-powered computer which makes the augmentations so interactive that it always feels like it exists within the real world.

Being a developer of AR apps the first reaction I had after wearing Hololens was “WOOW”. But during development for the Hololens apps, I always had to compromise on many things due to the limitations of resources in the Hololens device itself and was always willing to see the change Microsoft will bring to the new edition.

After seeing the demo online of Hololens 2 which was made at MWC on 24th Feb 2019, I am unable to wait to have a hand on one of it and test it myself. It shows the effort that Microsoft team put in to get the new version done which is far more advanced than its earlier predecessor (Hololens 1).

Now let us talk about the few new features noted of Hololens 2 while demoed by Microsoft at MWC:

Ergonomic Design:
So first thing in the list is the design of the Hololens 2. The major problem I face with the Hololens 1 is that I am not able to wear it for a long time at it starts hurting my nose, so I mostly prefer to use it for final testing and stick to Emulators where ever is possible.

The new design is:

• Sleek
• 3 times Comfortable
• Lightweight
• Designed taking care of the centre of gravity of the device for all shape size of human heads

One more design that is fascinating in Hololens 2 is the front visor flips up feature which was racking in the 1st version. Once you wear the device and tight it in it is really hard to get it off for just a few seconds and again wear it, now in such a scenario (Occurs with me mostly), it becomes really helpful with this flip-up design feature in Hololens 2 where you don’t even need to take it off completely.

2X Field of View
Now, this is one factor I am reen to see from my own eyes. As mentioned in the demo the new Hololens 2 has double the field of view that it’s Hololens 1. Now as per the data it is 52 degrees in Hololens 2 which is 30 degrees in Hololens 1. Now from the difference, we can feel that it will surely make a big change in the way the AR used to look from the Hololens 1 in Hololens 2.

Hand Tracking and Gestures
As from the demo, we can see that Hololens 2 has better hand tracking and gesture controls. The sound which is generated when touching the AR objects makes it more and more interactive and realistic.

Eye Tracking
The Hololens 2 has also got two cameras which track the user’s eye to know where the user is looking at and provide a better interactive experience.

Costing
The Hololens 1 was costing $3000 for Developer edition and $5000 for the Enterprise Edition while the Hololens 2 is told that it will cost $3500 for the device. Now one can pre-order the Hololens 2 from the Microsoft website here, While the actual date of availability is not yet shared by Microsoft.

Extra Features
Many other features are here in Hololens 2 which I will be sharing again once I get one myself.

Till then keep your thoughts coming and let me also know if you found out something better in Hololens 2 or ask if you have any questions.