Microsoft Holo Lens finally comes to the UK

HoloLens is now available for pre-order in France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom with devices shipping in November

Almost two years since its big reveal, Microsoft’s HoloLens is finally available to pre-order in the UK — but only to businesses and developers.

HoloLens was unveiled in December 2014 and launched in the US and Canada last year. It is now available for pre-orderin France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom — with devices shipping in late November.

In addition to these four European markets, HoloLens is also available for pre-order in Australia and New Zealand from today. The developer version of the device costs £2,719 in the UK and $3,000 in the US. The commercial suite is available for £4,529.

Since the launch of HoloLens we have seen really passionate developers and world-class companies develop groundbreaking computing experiences, experiences only possible on HoloLens,” said Alex Kipman, technical fellow, Microsoft Windows and Devices Group.

“When we set out to pioneer the mixed reality category we knew that many of the best innovations would be discovered when others got their hands on the technology. It has been quite inspiring to see what our partners have built and what individual developers have created.

“Together, we have only scratched the surface for what mixed reality can do. I can’t wait to see what happens next as we welcome these new countries to our holographic landscape.”

All of these sensors are used to beam holographic objects into the real world and these objects can be moved and interacted with using voice controls and gestures. These images are projected onto the retina meaning that they don’t appear on a ‘screen’.

So far, the technology has only been tested and used by companies and developers. Engineers from elevator firm thyssenKrupp use it to fix lifts by overlaying instructions, for example, or schematics on the real-word mechanisms.

Elsewhere, the Sidekick project uses HoloLens to give astronauts remote assistance while on the ISS to reduce crew training and increase efficiency.

In June at Computex, Microsoft announced Windows Holographic would be coming to Windows 10 PCs and head-mounted displays and Windows 10 will be updated in 2017 to include this platform.

All holographic apps are so-called Universal Windows apps, and all these apps will be made to run on the Windows Holographic platform.

via:wired