As expected, the opening keynote at the Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco on Wednesday put a lot of focus on the upcoming Windows 10 operating system, expected to be released sometime in the middle of this year. The more eye-opening attention-getter was one of the new technologies that will be enabled by Windows 10: holographic computing.
Following opening comments by CEO Satya Nadella and other company execs, Alex Kipman, Technical Fellow with Microsoft’s Operating System Group, took the stage at the Moscone Center to present several live and videotaped demonstrations of Microsoft HoloLens. Powered by Windows 10, the wearable system — which resembles a set of high-tech goggles — will let users turn any Windows app into a holographic image that can be controlled and manipulated for a variety of purposes.
The HoloLens will enable new levels of visualization and collaboration in such areas as architectural design, industrial robotics and medical education, Kipman said. He closed his presentation by announcing that several hundred demonstration models of the HoloLens device will be available to developers at Build over the next few days to enable them to test its apps, functions and capabilities.
‘A New Way of Seeing Things’
In a video illustrating tests of the device performed at Trimble Architecture, Kipman showed how the HoloLens lets designers and engineers envision architectural drawings as real-looking, three-dimensional images that can be explored and altered — lifting a rooftop to reveal the structure underneath, for example — to improve planning and avoid costly errors. Holographic images can also be viewed by users at different locations, enabling people to collaborate on designs virtually.
In an on-stage demonstration, Mark Griswold, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, then showed how the HoloLens can help medical students learn about human anatomy, replacing traditional instruction that usually relies on the use of human cadavers. Not only can the technology allow students to view the different layers and parts of the human body, but it can help them better visualize how physical systems like the heart operate or how injuries like bone fractures can occur, he said.
“When we’re both wearing a HoloLens, I can see what they’re looking at,” even when a student is at another location, Griswold said. “This is a new way of seeing things.”
From Needing To Choosing To ‘Loving’ Windows
While developers attending Build, which runs through Friday, will be able to try out the HoloLens for apps-testing, development and educational programs, Microsoft did not reveal the price of the new device, or when it will be officially released. Nor have any details yet emerged on when Windows 10 itself will be launched.
Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft’s Operating Systems Group, did lead a number of demonstrations during Wednesday’s keynote to show some of the other new capabilities that will be made possible by Windows 10. He said the new OS will feature a built-in browser called Microsoft Edge (the OS has previously been described in news reports under the code-name Project Spartan), as well as a built-in version of the Cortana digital assistant that can respond to voice commands.
Belfiore also showed how the new operating system will enable Windows phones to provide “a full PC experience,” something that could prove especially valuable in mobile-first, developing economies where many people have cellphones but not laptops or desktop computers.
“This is just magical stuff,” Nadella said at the close of the keynote. He added the “essence” of Microsoft’s ambitions with Windows 10 is to take customers from needing its software to choosing it to “loving” it. “Our mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more,” Nadella said. “That mission starts with developers.”
Zombie_10:
Posted: 2015-04-29 @ 6:12pm PT
Windows is past its due date. Windows 10 is a zombie trying a come back. Since BYOD, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android are way more relevant and frankly much easier to use and to love. I recently had to help a friend fix a virus and malware infected Windows 7 and it just reminded me why I was so happy when my last Windows machine died.
Skymeat:
Posted: 2015-04-29 @ 4:34pm PT
Bravo Microsoft. The lens could change how I do my job in very real and good ways. And I sit at a cube.
