Microsoft’s mixed reality (MR) head-mounted display (HMD) HoloLens is available for developers to apply for now, that is if they want to spend $3000 USD on one. But for consumers it seems as if the wait will be a lot longer as comments from the headsets designer indicate.
Speaking at the recent TED conference in Vancouver, Canada, Alex Kipman has said the company is being more hesitant with the HoloLens release due to the Microsoft Kinect sensor poor performance after an initially strong start reports Recode. “It was not a pleasant experience,” said Kipman “It was just not ready to go sell 10 million units in 60 days, which is what it did.”
Talking about the HoloLens he said: “When I feel the world is ready, then we will allow normal people to buy it. It could be as soon as we say ‘yes,’ and it could be as long as a ‘very long time.’”
This continues the stance led by CEO Satya Nadella, who had previously said last year that: “In the first version, it’s going to be more about developers and enterprise scenarios.”
But the delay isn’t so much to do with the hardware as it is to do with the content: “If a consumer bought it today, they would have 12 things to do with it,” he remarked. “And they would say ‘Cool, I bought a $3,000 product that I can do 12 things with and now it is collecting dust.’”
So anyone eager to delve into the world of mixed reality will have to be patient if they’re keen to try Microsoft’s offering.
VRFocus will continue to cover all the latest news on Microsoft Hololens, reporting back any new updates.
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