Microsoft is teasing an upcoming press event at MWC on the 24th. A new video today all but confirms that we’ll be seeing HoloLens 2 (or whatever the next iteration is called) at that event.

A short video teaser posted today shows some flashy animations of a computer chip and the silicon that forms it, as well as carbon and carbon-fiber structures, the latter of which may be a hint about the weight of the headset. At the end of the video, flashing text reads out BARCELONA 02 24 19, the same date of Microsoft’s upcoming press event at MWC 2019 later this month.

While the video itself yields very little useful information, the fact that it was posted on YouTube by none other than HoloLens visionary Alex Kipman says volumes. Kipman has been central to the project, and was the one to introduce the world to the original HoloLens back in 2015; he’s confirmed to be speaking at the upcoming press event.

It’s just a tease, but it solidifies recent reports that the Microsoft press event is likely to be the reveal of the much anticipated HoloLens 2, which for some can’t come soon enough as the original HoloLens has been out of stock for months now. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a few more teases like this in the days leading up to the company’s MWC event.

It’s unclear if HoloLens 2 will be a next-gen version of the headset with the same enterprise and commercial focus as the original, or if Microsoft is ready to position the headset toward consumers as well. Either way, Road to VR will be in attendance of Microsoft’s MWC press event on the 24th to find out.

Thanks to David S for the tip!

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • NooYawker

    I hope it deserves to be called Hololens 2 and is not an incremental upgrade.

    • Smokey_the_Bear

      It’s been 4 years, it should be a very impressive improvement.

      • dk

        3 years
        ….oh I see what u mean “announced during a Windows 10 Event on January 21st, 2015. The Development Edition was released on March 30, 2016” …but it has been available for 3 years

    • Graham J ⭐️

      It will be an incremental update. The chip upgrade will give faster, better graphics, but diffraction gratings are still in the “best available technology, but still crap” phase of development.

  • I can’t wait. Rumors about it are very exciting

  • Tesla

    I hope its like Samsung Curved VR/AR device with curved AMOLED displays – transparent/non-transparent, otherwise Samsung will eat Hololens 2.0 soon, for breakfast.

    • Anything priced under the cost of 2 used cars would eat up Hololens sales.

    • dk

      what …that samsung patent was about a vr headset …and the fist thing u will need for a vr headset working great as an ar headset is a light field display like the old nvidia prototype and that’s not coming any time soon

    • Graham J ⭐️

      Transparent OLEDs won’t work for AR. The focus would need to be adjusted with a lens, and that would distort the real-world image.

      • Tesla

        You have focus anyway because there are lenses. Yes, interesting how to combine both worlds in one device. Now I think maybe these lenses will be removable? Hololens does not have any lenses?

  • Maybe they can fix that one broken thing that has always held Hololens back… what was that again? Oh yah, THE PRICE. >:[

    • themobiledivide

      This is declared by Microsoft to be another enterprise device because they see no consumer use cases yet, so expect similar maybe slightly lower pricing (>$2000) to get industry to take notice. Think of how they have positioned the Surface Studio and the kind of companies who have no problem springing $220+ per seat per month for 100’s of users for their CRM system Dynamics.
      Hardware wise I think they will be touting industry leading FOV and environment sensing and probably better wearable ergonomics. On the software front I think it will be just more of the same probably slightly better hand and finger driven UX due to the improved gesture sensing. Lots of the software development is more or less happening openly with Windows 10 insider Windows Mixed Reality and Windows on ARM.
      I also think they will be showing some kind of WMR and Hololens integration like viewing the same Holograms/3D models in VR and in AR for multiple users.

      Its going to look great and flashy and be a nice step forward but AR isn’t going to be ready for consumers before VR and look at how far VR is away from that.

      • wheeler

        Agreed, all of this urgency to reduce price is a mistake IMO. Perhaps the whole “iPhone moment” fable has given people a pretty unrealistic view of how technology matures. There is a place for enterprise and developer focused products, enthusiast products, hard core gamer products, etc etc and they are often critical before reaching mass market. I mean this for VR too–VR hardware is no where near being good enough for even your average high end console gamer. You could give these things away for next to nothing and everyone would point to headset sales as a indicator of success, but then most would stop using them not too long afterwards anyways (and much of that subsidization would thus have gone to waste). I don’t think we’ll get there until we have variable focus to be honest.

        • Proof XR Lab

          The irony is that AR will take longer to develop but is arguably more useful on a day to day basis for providing immersive computing whilst going about your daily business.

          An good example is a “heavy glasses” AR device with Google map to assist real time navigation in an urban environment without the vulnerability of using a smartphone (here in London many people have been robbed whilst distracted by their phone). Also frees both hands for other tasks.

          Situational awareness from a “heads up, and “hands free” display device, rather than “heads down” smartphone could be very beneficial.

        • Rainfox Wolfstone

          how do you get economies of scale, or the network effect in such low volumes, before investors get cold feet and pull the plug?

    • Graham J ⭐️

      Price isn’t the problem. They would sell boatloads at $10k if they had a significant advance in optics. But that is unlikely. H2 will probably still be based on diffraction gratings, and those have limits that are simply insurmountable with current material and optical science.

      With that being the case, it doesn’t matter how much it costs because it will never be mainstream. Only a breakthrough in wearable transparent optics will change that.

      • Who would they sell these things to?? Not me. Not you. I think you and the rest of the borderline-trolls here literally argue for the sake of arguing. At $2000, they are stupid expensive and will NEVER reach the mass market. Why would you argue that? What kind of absurdly rich background do *YOU* come from were two grand is just a drop in the bucket????

        edit: Oh, my mistake, THEY ARE $3000!!!!

        • Graham J ⭐️

          Of course it won’t reach mass market, it’s not meant to. This is not a consumer device. It’s not about being rich, it’s about the product suiting its purpose and that purpose is currently for enterprise. That’s why the price doesn’t really matter.

      • William R. Cousert

        Price is the problem. There’s no way consumers are going to spend $10,000 for an AR headset.

        The Oculus Quest will be released this Spring for $399. While it isn’t an AR headset, the four cameras will capture a point cloud that will allow you to see the real world inside of VR, so you can walk around your home without walking into things.

        • Graham J ⭐️

          This is not a consumer device.

          Quest will not do what you’re suggesting. The cameras are low res black and white for motion tracking. You will not see the outside world.

  • Danny

    Will this event be live streamed? And if so, does anyone know where?

  • GigaSora

    That video was crazy well done.