Could this be Microsoft’s next HoloLens headset? | Industry
NASA JPL (via ‘The Ghost Howls’)
A headset that looks like a less bulky version of Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented-reality headset has been spotted in a video from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Given NASA’s extensive work with the first-generation HoloLens, there’s a chance that the device could be something on which Microsoft’s working and/or is involved.
Originally spotted by “The Ghost Howls” (Skarredghost) in a “Virtual Visit to Mars” video, the device looks sleeker and more form-fitting.
Also: How NASA chooses tech for the International Space Station, and why AI could help get us to Mars
Microsoft isn’t saying whether the device in question is the next HoloLens, but given the next iteration of the HoloLens is expected some time in 2019, it’s not that far-fetched that this could be at least an early prototype of the coming device.
Microsoft officials have said the next HoloLens’ Holographic Processing Unit will incorporate an AI coprocessor. It also will include the “Project Kinect for Azure” depth sensor.
Credit: Microsoft
Microsoft Technical Fellow and father of the HoloLens Alex Kipman tweeted earlier today a link to the NASA JPL Mars video, along with the still image above. He said this image includes people wearing a prototype of HoloLens v.1.
“So what’s next? Let me just say, the future of #MixedReality truly is out of this world,” he tweeted.