Microsoft is pretty pumped. The company’s HoloLens technology — much heralded in its development phase — is about to be unleashed upon the world, with shipments starting March 30 and pre-orders being accepted now.
“Just over one year ago, we introduced Microsoft HoloLens to the world. It was exciting to see the response to our unveil of the first and only fully untethered holographic computer,” said Alex Kipman in a Microsoft blog post. “We’ve spent the past year focused on connecting with developers and commercial customers to imagine our holographic future together.”
In fact, the company says thousands of developers have experienced HoloLens first hand and have contributed ideas to the ecosystem through programs like Microsoft’s “Share Your Idea” promotion.
Microsoft has just announced that developer applicants will start receiving invitations to purchase the Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition – “a step focused on our commercial partnerships and on supporting developers, who will help pave the way to consumer availability with amazing and new holographic experiences.”
It’s a step out of a mere two dimensions and a leap toward future technology that “more closely mirrors our real world,” according to Microsoft.
“We believe that the future is holographic, and as a result, we will continue to empower the developers who will help bring that future to life,” noted Kipman. “The investments that developers have made in our Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps will carry forward. With Windows, holograms are Universal Windows apps and all Universal Windows apps can be made to work on Windows holographic. Similarly, holographic apps in the Windows Store can be monetized in the same way that all other UWP apps are today.”
Developers who purchase HoloLens will have immediate access to hundreds of UWP apps through the Windows Store – great and familiar apps like OneDrive, Maps, Remote Desktop, People, Movies & TV, Groove Music and Microsoft Office apps.
“The Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition also gives developers access to a showcase of holographic app experiences to help get them started,” explains Kipman. “These experiences are designed to demonstrate what the device can do, and how it operates, in order to inspire developers to create incredible things.”
Time to step into a new dimension?
Check it out here.