MICROSOFT HOLOLENS 2 REVEALED!

BARCELONA — February 24, 2019 — Today, at MWC Barcelona, Microsoft unveiled Microsoft HoloLens 2. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was joined by Alex Kipman and Julia White to, not only reveal the new device, but also an array of other mixed reality announcements.

HoloLens 2

HoloLens 2 is the premier mixed reality device and is now more immersive, more comfortable and delivers more value right out of the box. With HoloLens 2, you’ll be able to interact with holograms in a more natural way and wear the device for hours on end because the comfortability has been greatly improved.

From construction sites to factory floors, from operating rooms to classrooms, HoloLens is changing how we work, learn, communicate, and get things done.  It is already being used in a variety of challenging environments, including the International Space Station.

HoloLens 2 will be available this year at a price of $3,500. Bundles including Dynamics 365 Remote Assist start at $125/month. HoloLens 2 will be initially available in the United States, Japan, China, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia, and New Zealand. Customers can pre-order HoloLens 2 starting today at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens/buy.

In addition to HoloLens 2, Microsoft also announced:

Dynamics 365 Guides

Dynamics 365 Guides enhances learning with step-by-step instructions that guide employees to the tools and parts they need and how to use them in real work situations. In addition to the experience of using Guides on HoloLens, a Guides PC app makes it easy to create interactive content, attach photos and videos, import 3D models, and customize training to turn institutional knowledge into a repeatable learning tool.  

This application will help minimize downtime and increase efficiency for mission-critical equipment and processes and becomes the third Dynamics 365 application that will work on both the previous generation of HoloLens and the new HoloLens 2. Dynamics 365 Guides is available in preview starting today.

Azure Mixed Reality Services

Microsoft also announced two new Azure mixed reality services. These services are designed to help every developer and every business build cross-platform, contextual, and enterprise-grade mixed reality applications.

• Azure Spatial Anchors enables businesses and developers to create mixed reality apps that map, designate, and recall precise points of interest that are accessible across HoloLens, iOS, and Android devices. Developers can enable wayfinding across spaces to help their customers work and learn with greater speed and ease.

• Azure Remote Rendering helps people experience 3D without compromise to fuel better, faster decisions. Today, to interact with high-quality 3D models on mobile devices and mixed reality headsets, you often need to “decimate,” or simplify, 3D models to run on target hardware. But in scenarios like design reviews and medical planning, every detail matters, and simplifying assets can result in a loss of important detail that is needed for key decisions. This service will render high-quality 3D content in the cloud and streaming it to edge devices, all in real time, with every detail intact.

Azure Spatial Anchors is in public preview as of today. Azure Remote Rendering is now in private preview in advance of its public preview.

Microsoft HoloLens Customization Program

HoloLens is being used in a variety of challenging environments, from construction sites and operating rooms to the International Space Station. HoloLens has passed the basic impact tests from several protective eyewear standards used in North America and Europe and has been tested and found to conform to the basic impact protection requirements of ANSI Z87.1, CSA Z94.3 and EN 166. With HoloLens 2, Microsoft is introducing the Microsoft HoloLens Customization Program to enable customers and partners to customize HoloLens 2 to fit their environmental needs.

The first to take advantage of the HoloLens Customization Program is the company’s long-standing HoloLens partner Trimble, who last year announced Trimble Connect for HoloLens along with a new hard hat solution that improves the utility of mixed reality for practical field applications. Today, they announced the Trimble XR10 with Microsoft HoloLens 2, a new wearable hard hat device that enables workers in safety-controlled environments to access holographic information on the worksite.

Shows

- Microsoft HoloLens 2

- Soundbites from CEO, Satya Nadella

- Soundbites from Technical Fellow, Alex Kipman

- On Stage demo from Microsoft Engineer, Julia Schwarz

- Soundbites from Corporate Vice President, Julia White

- Microsoft partners using HoloLens 2