Microsoft Provides a Sneak Peek at Its Mixed Reality Holiday Plans

Just ahead of IFA this week in Berlin, Microsoft is providing a sneak peek at the Windows Mixed Reality solutions it plans to release alongside its hardware partners this holiday season.

“As a creator, it is inspiring to see the world embrace mixed reality; to see organizations and developers stretch the boundaries of what we can do with technology,” Microsoft’s Alex Kipman writes. “Together we have created the most vibrant mixed reality community out there and it has been phenomenal to share in this journey with our community.”

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This journey, as Kipman calls it, has required a few side-trips.

Microsoft announced its HoloLens technology at a Windows 10 event in January 2015, and it has slowly pushed the technology out to developers and a limited set of vertical markets. It is not mainstream technology, and likely never will be.

So Microsoft recalibrated, and started down a side road called Windows Mixed Reality, a technology that is only somewhat related to HoloLens. That is, Windows Mixed Reality combines the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) solutions we see today in smartphones and gaming PCs with some positional sensor technology that Microsoft first used in HoloLens. So the resulting headsets should be much easier to set up than cumbersome PC-based solutions like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

In addition to being a lot less expensive, Windows Mixed Reality headsets are also more portable than HoloLens or any PC-based VR solution. You can easily transport a headset (and a compatible portable PC) to other locations and not be confined to a single room.

The downsides to Windows Mixed Reality, however, are many. The quality of the display on the headsets we’ve heard about so far is only a bit better than that found on phone-based VR/AR solutions, at least in the first generation of devices. This was a compromise to make the headsets affordable and usable on normal PCs; other PC-based VR solutions are quite expensive and require hefty gaming PCs.

Anyway, the first Windows Mixed Reality headsets will finally arrive for consumers this holiday season, as planned. (A few headsets were made available to developers over the summer in the hope that some would actually make apps and games for the system.) Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are known to be building the headsets—and probably other companies too—and we will learn more about at least some of them this week at the IFA trade show in Berlin. Prices start at $399, and the headsets will be compatible with PCs that Microsoft says cost as little as $499.

“Along with our partners, we are committed to making mixed reality affordable,” Kipman notes.

But here’s where things get interesting. Somewhat answering my complaints about the display quality, Microsoft is today announcing a certification, of sorts, for PCs that are capable of using Windows Mixed Reality headsets.

A group of PCs called Windows Mixed Reality PCs will consist of desktops and laptops with integrated graphics that will offer MR content performance of 60 frames per second. But more powerful PCs with discrete graphics, called Windows Mixed Reality Ultra PCs, will run at 90 frames per second.

As part of this sneak peek, Kipman also revealed that Microsoft is working with 343 Industries (which it owns) to bring Halo games to Windows Mixed Reality. That said, I wouldn’t expect such a title this year. Nor is it clear if these future titles will be full Halo games or just mobile games.

More important, perhaps, Steam content will also run on Windows Mixed Reality. This should dramatically improve the gaming experience on the platform.

Kipman says that MR is “the future,” but I honestly don’t see this evolving into much more than a subset of the PC gaming market. Especially with this limited first generation of products. But I am, of course, curious to see how things develop.

 

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Conversation 12 comments

  • wshwe

    28 August, 2017 - 10:30 am

    <p>I see the display resolution as being the biggest limiting factor. People are now used to high dpi displays on mid and high end PCs and laptops. Getting on Steam VR is a start, but won't game developers have to support Steam VR?</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      28 August, 2017 - 4:04 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#169131"><em>In reply to wshwe:</em></a></blockquote><p>Check out the HTC Vive at a Microsoft Store, or find a Best Buy or Gamestop that offers VR demos. I've done it a few times and was surprised that the resolution didn't bother me. Obviously I don't know how that plays out over time and a broader range of experiences, but I encourage everyone to at least try it out. </p>

      • bsd107

        Premium Member
        01 September, 2017 - 3:31 am

        <blockquote><a href="#169202"><em>In reply to Chris_Kez:</em></a></blockquote><p>How does the resolution of these Windows Mixed Reality headsets compare to the Vive or Rift?</p>

  • Chris_Kez

    Premium Member
    28 August, 2017 - 2:06 pm

    <p>It's ironic that Hololens started as an Xbox project (Fortaleza) we thought might be announced in 2014, and now here we are in 2017 awaiting the launch of the most powerful gaming console ever built– and VR gaming is not one of its features.</p>

    • jrickel96

      28 August, 2017 - 5:12 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#169165"><em>In reply to Chris_Kez:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think this is largely because very few people really care. A year ago we had a ton of VR buzz and it's really gone nowhere as a major market driver. There's a niche audience.</p><p><br></p><p>MS has targeted the place where it is likely to be most profitable with business and with schools. Case Western is deep into their medical program using Hololens and the Cleveland Clinic is in the same place. I expect we'll see a greater use for that tech in various industries. Not sure there's a strong consumer market just yet, if ever.</p>

      • MutualCore

        28 August, 2017 - 5:40 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#169209"><em>In reply to jrickel96:</em></a></blockquote><p>Consumer market will happen when VR becomes 10x better than what it currently is. Commercial market will happen sooner because practical needs don't require super high fidelity and super immersion that people would want for entertainment purposes.</p>

      • edboyhan

        28 August, 2017 - 11:41 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#169209"><em>In reply to jrickel96:</em></a> Agreed — the HoloLens is really an Enterprise play. I expect that eventually we'll see it replacing a lot of multi-monitor H/W UI environments.</blockquote><p><br></p>

    • MutualCore

      28 August, 2017 - 5:39 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#169165"><em>In reply to Chris_Kez:</em></a></blockquote><p>VR in 2017 is stone-age compared to what people want VR to be. Remember the movie "The Thirteenth Floor"? That's what people really want.</p>

      • Rug

        Premium Member
        29 August, 2017 - 12:04 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#169214"><em>In reply to MutualCore:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>I think what people really want is the Holo-Deck from Star Trek. I haven't seen the Thirteenth Floor, maybe it's the same/similar thing.</p><p><br></p><p>Anything short of that has similar issues as Kinect, which is to say a gimmick. Most console gamers are content with sitting on the couch with a controller. </p>

        • MutualCore

          07 September, 2017 - 2:05 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#169528"><em>In reply to Rug:</em></a></blockquote><p>HoloDeck is still real life with all the dangers and limitations.</p><p><br></p><p>True virtual reality is controlling your own brain's dream engine so that you have full control rather than the randomness of how dreaming happens during REM cycle.</p><p><br></p><p>Think about how that is portrayed in the film 'Inception', that's pretty much what is the holy grail.</p>

  • Justin Weltmer

    28 August, 2017 - 5:31 pm

    <p>@Paul, You're usually very knowledgeable about the real use-cases of new tech, but I have to say, you're dead wrong with your dismissal of AR/VR.&nbsp;Leaders at Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Oakley, Snapchat and others have all stated that this technology has huge mass-market potential in fields from education to entertainment. Even ignoring the advantages of AR that can't be had through existing technologies (use of sensors and visual overlays to augment natural human senses similar to work by Steve Mann, or the ability for AI assistants to sense the world around you to give much better contextual information), a device that can replace both your smartphone and every other type of display (TVs, Monitors, etc) is cost effective.</p><p><br></p><p>Add in 5G networks, and you very well might have a single device (plus a cloud computing service) that replaces virtually all current computing and interface needs for the average person.</p><p><br></p><p>You've made the argument before that ambient computing will be a big deal in the near future. I think you're right, but I think AR is the only interface that makes sense for it. Instead of every device needing microphones, speakers, and screens, they simply relay their info to your headset, which generates an appropriate interface on the fly. Again, this would be a much more cost-effective alternative.</p>

  • mortarm

    30 August, 2017 - 11:09 am

    <p>Personally, I find AR much more interesting. </p>

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