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Microsoft's HoloLens Is Now On Sale To Anyone In The US Or Canada (computerworld.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the chump-change dept.

Microsoft is now selling its augmented reality headset dubbed HoloLens to anyone in the United States or Canada for $3,000 a pop. Computerworld reports: Until now, HoloLens was available only to developers and companies through Microsoft sales reps, but starting Tuesday, anyone in the U.S. or Canada can buy up to five headsets online through the Microsoft Store. There was no word about availability in other countries. The HoloLens now on sale is the same developer edition that has been offered to Microsoft partners, and buyers are asked to acknowledge before completing purchase that they understand it's not a finished product intended for consumers. Microsoft also asks buyers to agree not to resell the product and acknowledge that no refunds are available. The move should expand the community of developers working to build apps and other content for the headset before a consumer version is officially available.

53 comments

  1. Sounds cool... But---!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Does it spy on you? I bet it does.

    If it spies on you -- no thanks!!!!

    1. Re:Sounds cool... But---!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder if it's still a piece of shit with low resolution that only displays a tiny window in the centre of view.

  2. "should expand the community" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, I'm sure a 3000 dollar test unit will have tons of developers lining up to use it, not to mention all the developers that got screwed over developing for Windows Phone.

    1. Re:"should expand the community" by bettodavis · · Score: 1

      It's indeed expensive. As a regular user I would expect for it to be around $1500 USD in order to be interested.

    2. Re:"should expand the community" by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 2

      or you can just buy some cardboard. Much cheaper and even more fun!

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    3. Re:"should expand the community" by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Yes, because augmented reality with a field of view big enough to remind you of peeping through a drinking straw is totally worth $1,500.

  3. $3000 my ass. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    No way is that headset worth that kind of money. The viewport within which the 'holograms' appear is just too small.

    Ridiculous.

    1. Re:$3000 my ass. by Holi · · Score: 1

      It's a developer product not a consumer product. Look at most developer gear and they almost always have expensive price tags.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    2. Re:$3000 my ass. by kopolov · · Score: 1

      a very expensive ass

  4. I'll take eight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh wait, does it come with Windows 10...? Thanks, pass, i'll just gonna smoke the 24k...

  5. HoloLens vs Vive?! by iCEBaLM · · Score: 1

    Why would anyone buy a hololens for just augmented reality for $3000, when you can get a full blown VR setup with the HTC Vive for $800?

    1. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hell, people aren't really buying a Vive at that price either. Vive sales have been horrible, and it shows in HTCs luke warm stock price. VR has been a failure because companies have not delivered on the promise of affordable VR for the masses. Instead, they pulled a bait and switch which was an astonishingly bad idea.

    2. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by smelch · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree $3000 is really steep, especially for the product. It's rather disappointing so far. The field of view just isn't there. However, the implication that VR is somehow greater than AR I strongly disagree with. I think AR is a much harder problem to solve and has really great potential applications. I think people are ready to start moving away from their all-digital worlds and in to something grounded in the physical world a little more. People don't like having their phone in their face all day, or staring at a computer screen all day. There just isn't a better way to get the information they want at the time they want it. VR (so far) is just further isolation from your physical world by moving your body in to the digital world, whereas AR is bringing your digital world out in to the physical world.

      --
      If I can just reach out with my words and touch a butthole, just one, it will all be worth it.
    3. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't think they are directly comparable. This is apples and pears. (not oranges as the concepts are somewhat related)

      I think there is a place for both - in fact I am not sure why so many people are missing this as it seem blatantly obvious to me. Hell, maybe in the distant future there will be a single device capable of both.
      In fact I find arguments that are merely penis measuring competitions between the two to be wholly ridiculous.

      Having said that, if you compare the PROMISE of the technology compared to the implementation I would say that it is clear that MS AR is the one severely lacking. Especially when one considers their marketing hype versus the reality. VR is living up to its tech promise - I am ignoring price here as this is irrelevant to my point.

      But again, these are two separate technologies that have overlap but in practice have very different application.

    4. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by bettodavis · · Score: 1

      That's if you already have the beefy PC required for VR with the Vive.

      Getting a good PC besides the Vive headset can put the price around $1800-2000 USD.

      Still less than 3000 bucks for the Hololens, though.

    5. Re: HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. I look forward to the day I can turn a dial and get just the right amount of reality for that moment. Basically a slider to go between no AR all the way to VR.

    6. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by 110010001000 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Because VR is a dead end. VR makes the vasst majority people throw up within 15 minutes of use due to the disconnect between what the eye sees and the inner ear senses. There is no way to solve that problem with VR. AR is the way to go, but $3000 is ridiculous.

    7. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Affordable? Only oculus promised that and they ramped the price up when facebook bought them. Somethings gotta pay for zuckerfuck;s next 20 ferraris ya know.

    8. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Based on my understanding, $1000 should do it. It's possible to go below that, but performance will probably take a hit somewhere.

    9. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My mistake, I misunderstood what you were saying.

    10. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Full blown VR has very different use cases than AR. I got to try out the HoloLens a few years back and being able to overlay graphics on top of your ever day world is a very, very powerful idea.

      Let me give you an example. Imagine an interactive instruction guide for an Ikea dresser. It not only shows you step by step what to do, but you can look through the parts and it can highlight the part you need next, and give you arrows to where the part needs to go. Grab that fastener and stick it in the hole over there. Now grab this fastener and put it over there in the other hole. Now take that board by your foot and put it on top, etc... Can't do that with standard VR as you can't see anything but the graphics the computer spits out.

      I liked the HoloLens and will likely by one if they can get the price in the $800 range. But to say it is competing with the Vive misses the advantage of AR.

    11. Re: HoloLens vs Vive?! by stevedog · · Score: 1

      Arguably the Vive could be capable of both. I haven't heard of anything that does this, and I'm not even sure if the software allows apps access to it at all, but the built in camera certainly COULD be used for AR, though I'm not sure if the resolution is high enough for it to be good AR.

    12. Re: HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      If I can afford a 3000 dollar Hololens, why am I buying and assembling a cheap IKEA dresser?

    13. Re: HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That sounds like a wonderful technology, but a horrible experience.

    14. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm, figuring out how to assemble a dresser from printed instructions like a normal human, or blowing $800 so a computer can handhold me through it and save me maybe 10 minutes? Tough call.

    15. Re: HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      check out magic leap

    16. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Theaetetus · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I agree $3000 is really steep, especially for the product. It's rather disappointing so far. The field of view just isn't there. However, the implication that VR is somehow greater than AR I strongly disagree with. I think AR is a much harder problem to solve and has really great potential applications. I think people are ready to start moving away from their all-digital worlds and in to something grounded in the physical world a little more. People don't like having their phone in their face all day, or staring at a computer screen all day. There just isn't a better way to get the information they want at the time they want it. VR (so far) is just further isolation from your physical world by moving your body in to the digital world, whereas AR is bringing your digital world out in to the physical world.

      As someone with a Vive, I definitely agree. The Vive is great for fully escaping into a digital world, and the sense of immersion is amazing. Just last weekend, I lost several hours playing in a few different apps and was shocked to take off the set and find it was dark and I missed usual dinner time.

      But I'd also love to have a system that I could use for work. I've been looking at Bloomberg's Oculus Rift multiscreen experiments, as well as solutions like Virtual Desktop, and while those are great for, again, disappearing into a virtual workspace, nothing offers something that could work in an office environment: specifically, something with multiple virtual screens that I could surround myself with to view multiple documents and PDFs simultaneously, but still be "aware" when someone pokes their head in my office. AR (or a VR headset with low-latency front facing cameras) offers that possibility.

      That said, this offering is disappointing, both from a price point and from the offered apps on the website. $3000 is too much for anyone but a developer who expects to earn money back from being an early adopter, and the current apps all seem to be either "project a video on a wall" or "play with 3D modeling" and are useless for typical work. How about "place documents in midair"? It should be easy, given that they're 2D and (other than scrolling) static images. Be able to do that with a dozen documents at once, and you've got a multi-monitor replacement.

    17. Re: HoloLens vs Vive?! by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      It's MS we're talking about here. What makes you think that you'll be the one turning that dial and sliding that slider?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    18. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Vive is just a headset, the Hololens is a full PC.

    19. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Holi · · Score: 1

      "VR makes the vasst majority people throw up within 15 minutes"

      Claims like that require some sort of supporting evidence. So source? or admit to making things up.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    20. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      $3000 is expensive, no doubt. But Hololens is the only AR device which has largely solved the latency problems other see through displays have.
      So, while the field of view is not great, it is the only device that allows you to anchor virtual items into the real world.
      And since it's the only one, it's really the only price point to consider.
      PCs, VCRs, Microwaves, etc were all expensive at one point too - they come down in price eventually.

    21. Re: HoloLens vs Vive?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a common occurrence you asshole. Google it. It is a known fucking problem with VR. Has been since its inception.

    22. Re: HoloLens vs Vive?! by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 1

      I meant a proper overlay not a video feed and overlay.

      Very much in the realm of science fiction at the moment.

    23. Re:HoloLens vs Vive?! by smelch · · Score: 1

      I agree that it's an impressive piece of technology. Sticking with the microwave analogy, I'd say that we're way past noticing chocolate melt near RADAR but not yet at a counter-top microwave. We're sitting somewhere close to a 6 foot tall, 750lb microwave (which incidentally cost around $3000). I love easy mac, and one day, we will have it. My point is just that easy mac provides a different take on dinner than... uh... I don't know, this metaphor is really falling apart... Corn? Is that right? Is that the VR equivalent? I have a reference sheet somewhere for this...

      --
      If I can just reach out with my words and touch a butthole, just one, it will all be worth it.
  6. set sail for fail! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    at $3000 it's just not going to sell in any volume worth talking about.

    1. Re:set sail for fail! by Holi · · Score: 1

      This version is not meant to sell a lot of units. It's to let developers create for it so when the consumer model shows up there will already be applications ready for it.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    2. Re:set sail for fail! by tazan · · Score: 1

      MS has fooled me too many times. For me that's a lot of money to invest in something they could just drop and walk away from at a whim. I think I'll pass.

    3. Re:set sail for fail! by Holi · · Score: 1

      If Microsoft has fooled you too many times, I'd hate to ask your thoughts on Google.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
  7. not ready for prime time by PJ6 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've had the privilege to develop on one, and I can say that the technology just isn't there yet. Not even close.

    The dev tools are also half-assed and unstable.

    Sit on your money for now, even if you have it to burn.

    1. Re:not ready for prime time by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      To be fair, it could well be that the technology could be there and the tools could be stable and either not being ready for prime time is the usual MS inability to deliver a stable product.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  8. Underwhelming by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    I tried one at a Home Depot that was used for kitchen visualization of remodel options, and it was underwhelming.

    Maybe they didn't use it to its full "coolness" potential or maybe I've been desensitized by all the hype, but overall I wasn't impressed. I can see where it would make for some pretty cool gaming applications, though.

    But $3000 a unit? It's not going to be on my shopping list anytime soon at that price.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  9. What are they smoking? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    $3,000 for this pathetic product? It will have to improve A LOT before it is worth that amount of dough.

  10. Microsoft HoloLens .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What was HoloLens called before Microsoft bought it?

  11. Complete ignorance. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your facts are completely wrong. Many VR games for the HTC Vive do not involve "sliding" at all. No sliding = no vr sickness.

    The most common technique is instant teleportation to areas where one has line of site. BAMF! and you are over there. There is no perception of motion, and hence no sickness at all. Beyond that, the only thing that causes sickness is poor head tracking, which the Vive has nailed.

    I have played these games. The ones with a lot of sliding around made me sick. The teleporty-games didn't phase me at all, and the mechanic felt natural. I bamfed all around the room while shooting at things. No sickness.

    So, there IS a way to solve "that problem" with VR. Done and done.

    1. Re: Complete ignorance. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So basically what you are saying is only apps that have teleport features won't make you sick. What?

  12. It's Not Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If this was an Apple product, the posters here would be falling over themselves to sell a kidney to buy one of these things. But it's Microsoft, or for you haters, Micro$oft, so they're going to nitpick the technology to death. I agree it's a new technology and needs work. But unlike the Oculus or the Vive, you don't need a separate computer to power it, and unlike VR which further insulates you from the world, AR enhances it. It's not consumer-ready, but at least people who have cash to burn can actually buy one without turning to eBay.

  13. Is there something by bravecanadian · · Score: 1

    I would want one for?

  14. We have one in my office by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My office has one, and we're not impressed. There's very little information for how to develop applications for it. It's ambient cooled, and automatically shuts down the most intensive applications when it gets too hot. The battery only lasts about 30 minutes. Overall, we're not impressed.

  15. Re:How can I use a HoloLens? by Miamicoastguard · · Score: 1

    Well done. Good job.

  16. Early Access? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's with this spate of "Early Access" nonsense going on?

    Originally it was software, which was still weird at the time. I don't see the reasoning for buying something the developer has clearly stated is incomplete. They can't even promise it will EVER be finished, or even if they'll bother to continue working on it.

    Now it's hardware. Selling hardware that isn't finished. Again, no promise it'll ever be finished or if they'll even bother to continue working on it.

    Next: Selling concepts for things that we can't even be bothered to start working on. ...Oh wait, that's Kickstarter.