Microsoft’s new piece of kit doesn’t disappoint, but the real excitement of its MWC announcement goes well beyond the hardware.

After unveiling the device at MWC, Microsoft then went on to demo it to a select group of invited media (myself included) and that’s where I finally got the chance to play with what has to be one of the world’s most sophisticated toys, certainly for that price range.

Microsoft is in this for the long haul and will continue cashing in just fine without even touching the consumer market
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I won’t go over the basic specs here. After tons of excited reporting, the device itself – and Microsoft’s strategy for it – have been thoroughly analyzed from every angle. From in-depth technical reviews to accounts of testing the prototype in Redmond prior to the launch, all the way to the nay-sayers who still insist that the whole thing is doomed to fail, take your pick. What I’m interested in, however, is what this means for the broader immersive tech ecosystem.

The HoloLens and I go way back. Ever since I demoed the device in London for the first time back in 2016 I was convinced this was going to be something truly transformational. I went on to report on many different use cases that demonstrated just how much value the Mixed Reality proposition could bring to all sorts of industries.

The HoloLens and I go way back
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While others griped endlessly about the field of view and somewhat stilted gestural interface, I always preferred to focus on the bigger picture. The HoloLens was essentially an excellent proof of concept, and much of its technology was still amazingly ahead of its time even four years after launching. I had the opportunity to deep-dive into how the Microsoft team painstakingly developed the awesome spatial audio feature to heighten immersion, and interview its creator Alex Kipman on his vision for the future of both the device and the tech.

So after hearing all about it at the launch in Barcelona, I was keen to see it with my own eyes. Would it actually deliver on the promises Kipman had made on stage the night before?

While others griped endlessly about the HoloLens field of view and somewhat stilted gestural interface, I'd rather focus on the big picture
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When I first put the headset on, we were off to a good start: Promise number was kept right off the bat. This was vastly more comfortable (I’m not sure if it was exactly “three times more comfortable” like Kipman claimed but it was, well, comfortable!). Whereas I usually came away from HoloLens demos with big red marks on the bridge of my nose, the weight of this new device was elegantly distributed and the center of gravity much further towards the back. Combined with lighter carbon fiber construction, this is something I could happily wear for a while without thinking anything of it.

The second big promise Kipman had made was that this device was much more immersive. The fact the Field of View (FOV) is twice the size of the old HoloLens certainly helps towards that. Although I maintain that even with the original FOV your brain adjusted pretty quickly to it so that you still got an immersive experience, it was nice not to have to adjust. The FOV on the HoloLens 2 does not quite cover your entire line of sight, but it really does come close enough so that it doesn’t interfere with the experience. I spoke to Mark Christian, Global Director of Immersive Learning at Pearson – one of Microsoft’s HoloLens Partners – who told me that after delivering over 200 demos on the first day at MWC (conference attendees were waiting over 3 hours in line for the chance to try the device) not one of them mentioned feeling limited by the FOV.

So now that we got that out of the way, here’s what got me most excited about my own demos: The first couple of minutes in each one, where you’re essentially calibrating the device.

The second big promise Alex Kipman had made was that the HoloLens 2 was much more immersive
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By the third and fourth time I was doing that, I knew what to expect, but it was still magic, and to me it really sums up why this is an awesome leap forward for Microsoft and for Mixed Reality. It works very nicely across the board, but where it comes to eye tracking and voice recognition (and the combination of the two) it delivers in spades. And then some.

The first calibration exercise (after you do the familiar lining up of a holographic box onto the middle of your display so you can see all four edges) has a series of bright spinning jewels pop up in different places in your field of view. I’m instructed to just look at them, without moving my head. As my eyes rest briefly on each jewel, it disappears in turn. The HoloLens 2 knows exactly where I’m looking. After that’s done, a colorful hummingbird materializes in front of me. The device scans my hands (automatically adjusting to their shape and size) and when I move them the tiny bird flies over to hover above it. I change hands and move them around, feeling like Snow White in a Disney film as I make friends with this little guy, who I really feel like naming. By the time we finish calibrating the device, I regretfully watch him disappear.

But the idea behind having me play with this hummingbird is, of course, for the HoloLens to be able to scan your hands and their movement patterns to allow you to interact with the holograms. And that interaction happens in a much more intuitive flow now. Gone are the “pinch” and “bloom” gestures you had to learn and instead you can pretty much grab, stretch, toss and turn your holograms any way you please. You can push buttons, slide sliders, and tell stuff to do things. And because the device always knows where I’m looking, I can often do what I want just by directing my gaze somewhere. The prime use case of that is incredibly simple, and beautiful in its simplicity – reading. Text information was set next to a Hologram, and as my eyes finished reading the last line, that text automatically scrolled up. Not only that, but it did so faster or more slowly depending on my reading speed. It was absolutely seamless, and one example of what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella referred to in his speech on Sunday at MWC, that the best technology eventually becomes invisible.

The idea behind having me play with this holographic hummingbird was to have the HoLens 2 scan my hands
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And as for value, the price of the HoloLens 2 is actually incredibly cheap for most the large enterprises that have been using it so far. The cost and efficiency savings that introducing Mixed Reality have already brought to companies like Thyssenkrupp and Trimble are nothing short of remarkable, and the possibilities for increasing those returns even further are practically endless. That’s the low-hanging fruit as far as Microsoft is concerned. I have a feeling the only question those companies will be asking themselves is “how many of these will we be allowed to order, and how quickly can you deliver?”

But Microsoft also wants to create this “open ecosystem” around Mixed Reality and expand its appeal to small and medium-sized businesses. And for SMEs, the fact that the HoloLens 2 will also be offered on a lease basis for a few hundred dollars a month is a big attraction. The key, however, is going to be the out-of-the-box content that they will be able to offer those companies. And this is again where Microsoft’s strategy really comes together. For the past four years they have worked with these big corporations and their R&D departments to create valuable use cases, platforms and applications for Mixed Reality. If they’re now able to package that as part of a subscription offering for SMEs it could prompt a lot of smaller business owners to try it out.

Microsoft wants to create an open ecosystem around Mixed Reality
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So from a business perspective, there were very few surprises to come out of these announcements and the launch at MWC. Microsoft has proven itself to be steadfast and consistent in its strategy for the HoloLens and Mixed Reality, sticking to its original pivot towards enterprise.

But at the same time, there is no doubt that this technology will not be pigeonholed in such a way forever. It will evolve, become lighter, cheaper, and ever more intuitive and transparent. And when the time, price, and most importantly, the content ecosystem is right, it will reach that sweet spot where consumers will also embrace it. The HoloLens 2 brings us a big step closer to that, but there’s no rush as far as Microsoft is concerned. They’re in it for the long haul, and in the meantime I have a feeling they will start cashing in just fine without even touching the consumer market, thank you very much.

This article was originally published on VRScout

Hands-On With The HoloLens 2 via @alicebonasio https://t.co/GuvVS1iTvG pic.twitter.com/xpqRWxo6TF

— VRScout (@VRScout) March 3, 2019

Tech Trends’  Virtual Reality Consultancy services offers support for companies looking to enhance brand strategy with immersive technologies such as Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. You can follow @alicebonasio on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn or subscribe to her Inside VR/AR Newletter for all the latest curated immersive news.  

The post Getting Hands-On with the New HoloLens appeared first on Tech Trends.

Big data is getting even bigger. The average consumer will access and generate vast amounts of information over the course of any normal day. Yet power users, or “prosumers” like myself who also rely on data for all their work, need (or at least want) even more connectivity than your regular 4G devices are able to offer.

Big data is getting even bigger #Making5GReal @MiFi #MiFiIQ
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At the same time, emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics, 5G and IoT are all converging to enable use cases that will dramatically impact business and the way we all live. Enterprise and business use cases such as Virtual Reality and telemedicine also require military-grade data security and encryption.

The average consumer will access and generate vast amounts of information every day #Making5GReal @MiFi #MiFiIQ
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High throughput, speed and bandwidth, combined with low latency have long been the promises of 5G. A lot of folks in the industry have talked about that in theory, but with real-world trials now happening with various operators, what kind of performance can actually be delivered in reality?

Inseego has a rich history in advancing connectivity dating back from the 1990’s, although you might be more familiar with their previous name of Novatel Wireless. Two years ago the company famous for inventing the MiFi® and the mobile hotspot category rebranded as Inseego, but regardless of the name they operate under, this is a company with some serious pedigree where it comes to delivering next-generation end device connectivity. Having quietly powered the 2G, 3G and 4G revolutions, they are now delivering 5G through their MiFi IQ technlology which is set to become the overarching 5G technology device brand for both mobile and fixed (in-home/in-office) wireless – for consumers as well as prosumers.

Power users rely on data for work and will need more connectivity than your average 4G devices is able to offer #Making5GReal @MiFi #MiFiIQ
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A large number of Tier One telecommunications operators around the world are actively working with the company on bringing their 5G NR services to life – both mobile (hotspots) and fixed/in-home 5G (routers, gateways and more) – through MiFi IQ device technology throughout 2019. Availability with numerous carriers are in the works, although Verizon, Telstra, Optus and several others have already made public announcements.

While mobile 5G (hotspots) will bring next-generation networks to life on-the-go, in-home 5G is already emerging as an alternative to traditional in-home broadband internet from cable providers. In fact, there have been reports in the United States that early customers of Verizon 5G Home, the leading carrier’s recently launched fixed wireless service, are converts who previously purchased their broadband Internet connectivity from traditional cable companies.

Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics, 5G and IoT are converging to dramatically impact business and the way we live #Making5GReal @MiFi #MiFiIQ
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Whether it’s their emerging in-home or mobile devices, MiFi IQ 5G NR technology has been performing in real-world trial scenarios
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Whether it’s their emerging in-home or mobile devices, MiFi IQ 5G NR technology has been performing in real-world trial scenarios. In fact, data points to the devices already having achieved more than 2 Gbps of speed and sub-10 milliseconds of latency in multiple component carrier aggregation (CA) scenarios. This was also showcased in Barcelona, with MiFi IQ 5G hotspots being the only devices of their kind to be running live on 5G NR network infrastructure at the conference.

To showcase the capabilities of the MiFi IQ 5G NR hotspot at MWC, they performed the world’s longest live 5G data call alongside network infrastructure partner Ericsson, streaming video and other data for almost seven hours at the show.

“This is an exciting milestone for 5G NR. And our MiFi IQ 5G NR hotspot is the only hotspot to be running live at Mobile World Congress this week,” said Ashish Sharma Chief Marketing Officer, EVP IoT & Mobile Solutions at Inseego.

While the MiFi IQ lines are focused on consumers and prosumers, Ctrack by Inseego and Skyus by Inseego highlights the convergence of 5G and IoT device-to-cloud solutions.

IoT device-to-cloud intelligent solutions include Ctrack by Inseego (this is a widely used IoT device-to-cloud telematics/fleet tracking solution around the world – including with prominent fleets, airlines like Lufthansa/KLM Equipment Services/etc.) and Skyus by Inseego – Industrial IoT 5G/LTE gateways/routers/etc. as well as intelligent cloud software.

Inseego has a rich history in advancing connectivity dating back from the 1990’s where they were known as Novatel #Making5GReal @MiFi #MiFiIQ
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MiFi IQ 5G Fixed Wireless

MiFi IQ technology is powering 5G NR in-home/in-office deployment – starting with Verizon 5G Home, Optus in Australia and expanding worldwide. Routers/gateways and other equipment brings 5G “indoors,” giving consumers/prosumers another choice for broadband Internet service. The next generation in home connectivity will be available to areas that aren’t currently served adequately by cable companies, adding extra benefits like superior bandwidth and security. Now, it’s coming from the air instead of cables.

A number of Tier One operators around the world are working with Inseego to bring their 5G NR services to life #Making5GReal @MiFi #MiFiIQ
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SoftBank-backed CloudMinds also marked the global debut of its technology powered by the HARIX Cloud Brain platform and connected with MiFi IQ 5G NR technology at MWC.

At MWC I checked out their XR-1 robot in action. This is the first humanoid service robot with vision-controlled manipulation capabilities powered by Cloud AI via 5G connectivity. It features Smart Compliant Actuator (SCA) technology for precision grasping, and Human Augmented Robotics Intelligence using the company’s eXtreme Reality (HARIX) platform, the robot can be controlled remotely by a person in a different location wearing VR goggles, but can also perform a range of intricate tasks autonomously. such as threading a needle or shaking hands with someone, applying the right amount of pressure as they do so. These “tactile capability” tasks might seem simple, but are actually incredibly difficult to perform to what would be deemed an acceptable level of competency in an average human.

Inseego performed world’s longest live 5G data call with their partners Ericsson at #MWC19 #Making5GReal @MiFi #MiFiIQ
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One of the robots at the show, named Rachel, was able to find and grab a bottle as it was placed around a table, then “serve” it to a guest. Two other robots were performing an intricate dance with, I have to say, considerably more grace and rhythm than I’ve seen on many a wedding dance floor.

All of these demonstrations were great fun to watch, but the point they were demonstrating is that in order to enable all that to happen, the robots needed to be plugged into a high throughput/speed infrastructure with virtually no delay (latency) all of which were brilliantly delivered by MiFi IQ 5G connectivity. It helps to paints a vibrant picture of how cloud artificial intelligence, robotics and 5G connectivity are coming together to transform various industries and society as a whole.

One of the #CloudMinds robots at MWC, named Rachel, was able to find and grab a bottle as it was placed around a table, then serve it to a guest #Making5GReal @MiFi #MiFiIQ
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Tech Trends offers a broad range of Digital Consultancy services to guide companies, individuals and brands in effectively leveraging existing and emerging technologies in their business strategy.

Alice Bonasio is an Emerging Technologies Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She regularly contributes to publications such as Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Alice also curates the Inside VR & AR Newletter. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Re-imagining 5G Connectivity appeared first on Tech Trends.

Object Theory are pretty much the oldest Mixed Reality company around, having launched in June 2015, before the HoloLens had even started shipping. In many ways they’re your typical tech company – my demos are delivered in the familiar blueprint of a trendy open-plan office with exposed brick walls, which sits above a sushi restaurant – but it’s got a different vibe from a lot of similar start-ups.

It was really interesting to see Microsoft pivot towards enterprise with the HoloLens and I think it was absolutely the right move for them to make
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For starters, they’re based in Oregon as opposed to Silicon Valley. And while Portland is by no means a backwater, it’s still not a major tech or immersive content hub like LA or San Francisco either. For another, its founders Raven Zachary and Michael Hoffman (who left Microsoft to start the company) operate a very profitable business (employing about a dozen people between full timers and contractors) with no investment capital. In spite of the fact we’re joking around and playing Angry Birds on Magic Leap, the whole thing feels very grown up, in the sense that these guys are in this for the long haul, and so, they reckon, is the business of making Mixed Reality.

You haven’t really experienced how much fun @AngryBirds is until you tried it in #mixedreality. Thanks @ObjectTheory for letting me play with your @magicleap! pic.twitter.com/UMhQbxgH1g

— Alice Bonasio (@alicebonasio) February 2, 2019

A key enabler for Object Theory’s success has been Microsoft’s strategy for marketing, supporting, and developing Mixed Reality content for the HoloLens, which is why Zachary and Hoffman are enthusiastic in their praise for the company, and in particular of the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella. By pivoting towards the enterprise market early on, Microsoft managed to create strong and sustained demand for Mixed Reality tools among companies looking to solve real business needs. That, in turn, allowed their partner developers to secure key contracts as they figured their way around the new technology.

“It’s curious how the HoloLens originated with the Xbox team (its inventor Alex Kipman was also responsible for the Kinect) so there was this idea that it would be mainly a consumer product,” recalls Hoffman. “It was really interesting to see them pivot in that way and go mainstream towards enterprise and I think it was absolutely the right move for them to make.”

The other significant pivot Microsoft made in recent years, adds Zachary, was to move away from being hardware-centered to focusing on the cloud, marketing Azure’s ability to enable what they call ‘The Intelligent Edge’: “Microsoft is the only one of the large players that has actively decided to be a multi-platform company. They are actively embracing everything that’s relevant out there, and that makes sense, because they’re making cloud consumption more valuable if it works with everything that’s out there. Because of that we hope – and it would make sense – if they adopt an OEM for their Mixed Reality technology. Microsoft has this great patent portfolio and it would be great to take that amazing secret sauce of the HoloLens and license it out to their existing OEM partners like Dell or Samsung.”

Object Theory are the oldest Mixed Reality company around, having launched in June 2015, before the HoloLens had even started shipping
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Since the launch of Magic Leap One earlier this year, Object Theory has also started exploring the possibilities that the other platform brings, such as better eye tracking and support for finer and more nuanced gestural controls as well as the much-talked-about additional field of view:

“People tend to focus on the extra field of view, but part of it is just an illusion, because they just don’t let you see what is not there, it’s really a trick because the edges of your vision are restricted by the design of the Magic Leap One HMD,” explains Hoffman. “With that restriction, you never get that cognitive dissonance of having an open FOV and a restrained one at the same time, which is what you get with the HoloLens. But that said, everyone says that after a day or so of using the HoloLens your brain adapts to it and you just don’t notice it any more, so for me this is really not a major issue.”

They muse that Magic Leap probably waited too long to launch, so that by the time they did, people were both less awed by the technology, and had unrealistic expectations fuelled by the company’s infamous cinematic concept videos.

“We in the industry knew that’s what we were going to get, but consumers felt let down because they didn’t realize the whale jumping in the school auditorium was a concept video, so for us the troll throwing a boulder was fine, but consumers – who weren’t going to buy the device anyway – felt let down,” says Zachary.

If we do get a sneak peek at the HoloLens 2.0 in Barcelona on the 24^th, it will be over three years after it was first launched, so developers like Object Theory are keen to see an acceleration of that innovation cycle. Zachary and Hoffman believe that bringing competition is one way to achieve this, and that, in a way is where the real value of having Magic Leap enter the arena lies.

People tend to focus on the extra field of view for Magic Leap, but part of it is an illusion, because they just don’t let you see what is not there, it’s restricted by the design of the HMD
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Although they haven’t deployed on Magic Leap yet, they’re hopeful that because every platform out there is investing in enabling Unity compatibility which enables them to develop cross-platform more easily. The challenge going forward, they anticipate, is that major tech companies are very used to owning their developer ecosystems outright,

“The challenge for Microsoft, Apple and Google is that they’re used to owning their developer ecosystems outright,” says Zachary, “so this is the sort of abstraction that I’m not particularly sure Apple and Google will buy into – but Microsoft might because they care about the cloud more than control over the developer ecosystem. I think ultimately for us, when an enterprise customer asks us if we can deploy on Magic Leap – which hasn’t happened so far – we’re ready and open to having that conversation. We’ve been saying all along we want more players, more competition. The more success we have in making this solve real challenges or even desires such as entertainment, the more it becomes meaningful, the pie gets bigger and there’s more opportunities for companies like us.”

The main question they’re asking themselves now is whether CIOs at Fortune 100 companies will want to invest in a start-up’s hardware solution or whether they’re by default going to go with a major player such as Apple or Microsoft.

“I don’t know the answer to that, we’re still leading with the HoloLens, it’s still our platform of choice, but we don’t know where that market is, Zachary says, but Hoffman goes a bit further, outlining how Microsoft’s targeting of enterprise proved to be a genius move in rallying developers like them to the platform in spite of its relatively small install base.”

The main question they’re asking themselves now is whether CIOs at Fortune 100 companies will want to invest in a start-up’s hardware solution
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“No matter how much money the investment in Magic Leap sounds, it’s still small compared to a company like Microsoft. They are a start-up,” says Hoffman, “And if I’m an enterprise I definitely want to take the Microsoft solution because even if they’re not perfect, they’ve been solving my business needs for a very long time,” he says, adding that while Microsoft might not be perfect, they’ve become very good at providing the services their enterprise customers want, and it was unlikely those customers would look elsewhere for them. In other words, Microsoft really isn’t going anywhere, where even a very well-funded start-up like Magic Leap could eventually run out of money and disappear without a trace. Given how risk-adverse large corporations tend to be, it’s clear what an advantage Microsoft has here in continuing to develop that market.

Even after three years, a lot of the R&D behind the HoloLens still stands up well, such as the fact that the HMD allows users to wear their prescription glasses is a huge plus (Magic Leap’s design requires you to order and purchase a special insert for around $200) as is heat dissipation; “Magic Leap makes me sweat within minutes of putting it on,” Zachary says. Another feature where the HoloLens technology scores highly with the developer community is spatial audio, which is something that Microsoft invested heavily in getting just right.

“What I love about the spatial audio feature as a developer is that you literally just have to push a button and it works. The Algorithms fill in all the blanks for you,” Zachary enthuses. “The sense of presence with Prism (the Mixed Reality collaboration and productivity platform that Object Theory developed for the HoloLens) because of the spatial audio is amazing. I want to talk to the silly cartoon avatar because the sound makes it really feel like that person is in the room with me, it’s unbelievable.”

“So overall – and we asked a lot of other people about this too – the sense is that Magic Leap outperforms the HoloLens in a couple of areas, and does worse in others, but there isn’t this sense that the needle has been moved dramatically,” Hoffman adds. “We’re very curious to see how they position Mixed Reality in 2019 and to what extent HoloLens will be a core or ancillary part of that story, and whether we’re going to see OEM devices. The more partners out there building devices, the more this market is going to move forward. We were a bit early, but we’re true believers.”

This article was originally published on UploadVR

Between Magic Leap and HoloLens, which is going to win over developers?https://t.co/X6QOjv8BGe pic.twitter.com/R5EyHZQLby

— UploadVR (@UploadVR) February 20, 2019

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies our VR Consultancy service offers comprehensive support in strategic deployment of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Developing the Future of Mixed Reality appeared first on Tech Trends.