Practical work with Microsoft HoloLens 2: more comfortable, more intuitive and more potential

One of the first things you notice when you wear the HoloLens 2 from Microsoft, revealed to the world at the Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona, ​​is that it is lighter and less bulky than the first incarnation of the headset mixed reality.

Threading the original HoloLens was a little clumsy – especially if, like me, you have to force it over a pair of glasses.

However, the new Microsoft hardware is easier to put on, especially for the wearer of glasses, and the visor is more adjustable and can even switch so you can see more clearly when you're not in the virtual world .

The configuration of my demo in Barcelona was quite simple and I was asked not to move my head when I followed the movements of a small floating purple crystal-like shape, so that the HoloLens 2 could calibrate tracking the movement of the eyes.

Soon, the forms were replaced by a hummingbird. When I reached out, the bird came and sat on my fingers, immediately illustrating the power of augmented reality; I almost felt like touching the bird and he was reacting to my movements.

Once installed, there is immediately a noticeable difference: the field of view of HoloLens 2 is twice as large as that of the original. The area in which you can look and see the elements – objects or avatars of other users in the same virtual "room" – is much larger. It's easier to keep an eye on what's happening in the UI around you, without having to turn your head.

If Microsoft wants to succeed in making augmented reality a useful and productive business tool, it is an important step forward because the wider field of view allows to create the illusion that this who is in front of you is really here.

This was sometimes a problem with the original HoloLens, because larger screens or virtual objects could easily come off your view, forcing the user to move or even roll back. This can still be a problem when you look at larger objects, but improving the field of view is a big step forward.

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One of the key areas of Microsoft boasts that the mixed reality experience offered by HoloLens 2 can provide an added benefit is in construction and engineering. One of the examples cited in the Microsoft documents is a building worker using a HoloLens to help build something, the headset providing instructions and information directly under their eyes, while their hands are free to continue their job.

By using HoloLens 2, companies in this sector could use the virtual display at several stages of the building process, since the review of detachable 3D designs of everything from individual pipes and valves to the set of the building.

It is this particular feature that was presented during my hands-on demonstration of HoloLens 2, using a mixed reality application from Bentley Systems, a US based architectural software provider. and engineering for architects, engineers and builders.

The SYNCHRO XR HoloLens 2 software allows you to view and interact with architectural plans in real time and gives you the ability to interact and manipulate holographic objects. Suddenly, a table in the room served as a support for a hologram depicting the exterior surfaces of a planned building.

As part of a "shared experience" with another user, I was able to manipulate some parts of the model, for example by taking a silo attached to the side of the building and passing it to another user who placed it on the floor. on the other side of the building.

In this shared environment, multiple users can collaborate in real time, which seemed generally intuitive, as if a real object were being transmitted between us. There was a problem when I went to get the article and I missed it, leaving it floating out of my field of vision, but after a quick look around me, I I was able to grab it and put it back.

But Bentley HoloLens 2 software not only allows you to manipulate virtual objects, it also allows you to manipulate time – in a way. By opening a new tool, this time using the solo device, I have introduced a sliding bar with respect to calendar dates.

By making a gesture towards the cursor and moving it up or down, I was able to move forward and backward in time for the building hologram, showing what the interior looked like and the outside of the plan at any time of the construction schedule.

It's easy to imagine how seeing a 3D model like this could ease the process, potentially avoiding incidents and construction delays if physical conflicts were discovered via 3D designs, rather than during the physical construction of the project. site.

HoloLens 2 could also be used during the construction of the site. During the demonstration, I was able to use the user interface to select different objects in the building, extract them from the model, and examine them more closely.

As the model appeared in my hands, I could make it bigger and smaller by using simple gestures, spreading out the arms to zoom, contracting them to return to the original size. Floating text panels were also added to each part, detailing the dimensions and other information about the article.

You can imagine that being able to examine parts and parts of any size like this can help builders and architects perform their tasks – and Mr. Bentley says the technology is currently being used to help with the construction of a museum in the Netherlands.

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The use of HoloLens 2 is impressive – the more comfortable headphones and the wider field of view help to feel like a breakthrough compared to the original.

There are other applications that potentially have more value for organizations. Spatial, for example, is a mixed reality videoconferencing platform that allows user holograms to meet in a virtual room and interact face to face (which I also tested, but on HoloLens 1) . This platform could be used for general purposes by organizations around the world.

But despite the impressive nature of HoloLens 2, Microsoft still feels like looking for a niche product. It is still hard to believe that the mixed reality headset will become the next indispensable tool for the company.

For me, I do not think we are almost at the point where an organization will be willing to systematically abandon the thousands of dollars needed to buy multiple devices and make the most of their use. Yes impressive, but not vital – at least not yet.

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