Microsoft’s HoloLens headset, which enables wearers to
compute by seeing and interacting with holograms, may only
last for around five and a half hours on a single charge.
The device, which Microsoft unveiled last year and is still in
development, is completely wireless and depends on the battery
housed within it for power. Microsoft’s Brian Harris, who
revealed the battery details while on stage at an event in Tel
Aviv, added that when pushed to its limits, HoloLens will last
around 2.5 hours on a single charge.
However, he did point out that the device is still very much in
development, and that the performance and battery life of
HoloLens will continue to improve as updates are made.
But the initial news is disappointing given the increasing
prominence virtual reality is expected to take on in 2016 – short
battery life would no doubt discourage some potential users.
HoloLens is essentially a wearable PC – it contains all the
necessary processors to run independently, will run Windows
10, and has Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity to support the apps
that are housed within it. So far, early examples of the sort of
thing you’ll be able to do with it have been impressive, as
Microsoft epitomised with their demo at E3 in 2015HoloLens itself has not yet really made it out into the wild either
– development kits are only due to begin shipping to developers
in the next couple of months – costing $3,000 (£2,100) – while
official on-sale dates and pricing are yet to be confirmed.
Another issue raised has been the field of view a user has when
wearing the headset, which Harris also said Microsoft planned
to expand. Currently it has been compared to viewing a 15-inch
monitor from two-feet away. This is a very small space
compared to the 360-degree views currently offered by the
virtual reality headsets of the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sony’s
PlayStation VR, all of whom are set to launch this year.
0 comments:
Post a Comment