Microsoft announces HoloLens specs, preorder dates, and what's in the Developer Edition

Yesterday, we reported that the preorder date for the HoloLens Developer Edition had leaked. Today, Microsoft has confirmed that today is the day, along with specs and what comes in the kit.

The firm announced that applicants will begin receiving invitations today to purchase the HoloLens Developer Edition for $3,000. The kit will come with the device, a carrying case, a charger, a microfiber cloth, a Bluetooth clicker, nose pads, and an overhead strap. It will ship on March 30.

Software includes HoloStudio, a program for creating 3D in 3D at "real world scale", a version of Skype that allows people to communicate using holograms, HoloTour, which allows the user to transport to other locations, and three games: Fragments, Young Conker, and RoboRaid (previously known as Project X-Ray).

The specs of the HoloLens Development Edition have also been unveiled:

Optics

· See-through holographic lenses (waveguides)
· 2 HD 16:9 light engines
· Automatic pupillary distance calibration
· Holographic Resolution: 2.3M total light points
· Holographic Density: >2.5k radiants

Sensors

· 1 IMU
· 4 environment understanding cameras
· 1 depth camera
· 1 2MP photo / HD video camera
· Mixed reality capture (link to blog)
· 4 microphones
· 1 ambient light sensor

Human Understanding

· Spatial sound
· Gaze tracking
· Gesture input
· Voice support

Input / Output / Connectivity

· Built-in speakers
· Audio 3.5mm jack
· Volume up/down
· Brightness up/down
· Power button
· Battery status LEDs
· Wi-Fi 802.11ac
· Micro USB 2.0
· Bluetooth 4.1 LE

Power

· Battery Life – 2-3 hours of active use, 2 week standby
· Passively cooled (no fans)

Processors

· Intel 32 bit architecture
· Custom-built Microsoft Holographic Processing Unit

Weight

· 579g

Memory

· 64GB Flash
· 2GB RAM

OS and Apps

· Windows 10
· Windows Store

What you need to develop

· Windows 10 PC able to run Visual Studio 2015 and Unity 5.4

Seeing a 32 bit architecture and 2 GB of RAM is a bit surprising, given just how powerful and lag-less the device is. What"s more notable is the battery life.

Two to three hours of use is fine for a development kit, but it"s very low for a consumer model, assuming that the consumer model ships with similar specs and given the use cases we"ve seen. We"ve seen HoloLens used to watch Netflix on a holographic display and to stream Halo from an Xbox One.

Nevertheless, Windows fans are anxiously awaiting the new device. As preorders begin today, we take our first step toward a holographic world.

You can apply for a HoloLens Developer Edition right here.

Source: Windows Blog via Petri

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