The Hololens and Augmented Reality

We’ve been there creating photorealistic worlds and putting it on screen. But now we’re taking what’s on the screen at applying it to our world. whatis.techtarget.com defines augmented reality as an integration of digital information with live video or the user's environment in real time. It’s sort of like implementing computer data to your field of view with the use of motion sensors and GPS data to detect the surroundings. Today AR is filled with witty animations seen through a cell phone and shooting virtual monsters through a headset but in the near future we might all be able to have our own little JARVIS interface.

Microsoft Hololens is a perfect example of augmented reality. During the E3 2015 event Microsoft presented Minecraft on a household table. Through the lens of the wearer a house on a mountain erected from piles of sand. The presenter dragged the map view to get a better perspective of the area and unfolds a bridge to the side connecting the mountain. This feature could utterly change how the game is played. Games aside it could allow architects to work with more ease and designers to get a head on feel on the things their working on.

The Hololens is not a finished project and therefore still has its defects. One major setback is its small field of view. While the lens wholly covers the wearer’s peripheral view, the generated images, animations and holograms is restricted to only showing up within a medium box at the center of the screen. There are no generated images outside the box and none in the peripheral vision area limiting the realism feel it was thought to have. Although the Hololens is still a prototype and is bound to have flaws, Microsoft states the fov problem won’t be solved soon. It will still be released however, in conjunction with Microsoft’s Windows 10.

Taken from pocket-lint.com. The future of AR.
Prof. Steve Feiner, Head of Computer Science, Columbia University
“I honestly believe that at some point in the future we’re going to have AR eyewear that’s sufficiently light weight, comfortable, visually appealing, high quality enough and at the right price that people will want to wear while walking around. It has to be socially acceptable and desirable.”

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/108888-the-history-of-augmented-reality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality
http://www.businessinsider.co.id/hololens-field-of-view-2015-6/#.VY3z-7VDFlc
http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/9/3146248/hitsune-miku-virtual-girlfriend-augmented-reality
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/7/7511327/seer-augmented-reality-headset-caputer-ces-2015