Microsoft today announced that its latest AR headset, HoloLens 2, is finally shipping. The headset can be purchased directly for $3,500 or rented for $125 per month.
Microsoft announced HoloLens 2 back in February and has started selling the headset today. Though pricey at $3,500, HoloLens 2 is actually cheaper than its predecessor which launched at $5,000. In addition to the outright purchase price, Microsoft is also renting headset to businesses for $125 per month, and will later launch a developer edition priced at $100 per month.
Image courtesy Microsoft
Like the original, HoloLens 2 is positioned as an enterprise-focused device. Microsoft envisions companies using the headset for design, remote assistance, training, visualization, collaboration, architecture, construction, and much more.
HoloLens 2 Specs
The official specs confirm the headset’s weight at 566 grams and ‘active use’ battery life at 2–3 hours. Here’s the full spec sheet:
Display
Optics
See-through holographic lenses (waveguides)
Resolution
2k 3:2 light engines
Holographic density
>2.5k radiants (light points per radian)
Eye-based rendering
Display optimization for 3D eye position
Sensors
Head tracking
4 visible light cameras
Eye tracking
2 IR cameras
Depth
1-MP time-of-flight (ToF) depth sensor
IMU
Accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer
Camera
8-MP stills, 1080p30 video
Audio and speech
Microphone array
5 channels
Speakers
Built-in spatial sound
Human understanding
Hand tracking
Two-handed fully articulated model, direct manipulation
Eye tracking
Real-time tracking
Voice
Command and control on-device; natural language with internet connectivity
Windows Hello
Enterprise-grade security with iris recognition
Environment understanding
6DoF tracking
World-scale positional tracking
Spatial Mapping
Real-time environment mesh
Mixed Reality Capture
Mixed hologram and physical environment photos and videos
Compute and connectivity
SoC
Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Compute Platform
HPU
Second-generation custom-built holographic processing unit
Memory
4-GB LPDDR4x system DRAM
Storage
64-GB UFS 2.1
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac 2×2)
Bluetooth
5
USB
USB Type-C
Fit
Single size
Fits over glasses
Weight
566g
Image courtesy WalkingCat
Aside from field of view and resolution improvements, HoloLens 2 also launches out of the gate with full hand-tracking. This is a huge improvement over the ‘air tap’ gesture that was relied upon with the original headset. With hand-tracking users will be able to more naturally and directly interact with augmented reality content.
