Hands-on review: Microsoft HoloLens

Design, comfort, software and our early verdict

HoloLens, Microsoft’s augmented reality (AR) viewer, feels like the future of computing.

Being upfront, the headgear that I tried at Build 2015 was “early development hardware,” and it definitely felt that way. But the potential, and how close HoloLens is to achieving it, is simply remarkable.

[Editor’s Note: Microsoft didn’t allow cameras inside the Build 2015 HoloLens demo room. These images are of a HoloLens inside a glass case that was just outside.]

The moment I tried on HoloLens during a “Holographic Academy” session with fellow journalists, I thought, “This is like having a PC on my face.” It’s not quite that functional yet, but that’s how the headgear, and what you see and can do with it, makes me feel.

There was no gaming in the session I attended, like we’ve seen since (more on that later). Instead, I was a developer for 90 minutes, crafting an app in Unity and adding HoloLens functions as I went.

With every new function added, like gesture controls and spatial sound, I witnessed how it translates into the HoloLens experience. The session aimed to show how easy it is to develop for HoloLens, but it also demonstrated what you and I will experience once it’s out.

But, before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s hit the latest news around HoloLens.

Latest developments

Since we last saw the HoloLens back in November 2015, there have been several new bits of news to surface around the device.

Namely, Microsoft has projected the HoloLens to sport just 5.5 hours of maximum battery life, and a mere 2.5 hours when under “heavy load.” While that doesn’t sound great, consider that most leading laptops and smartphones last about as long under a heavy load, and they’re not projecting 3D, AR imagery constantly.

Soon after, we learned of a HoloLens Bluetooth Clicker, our first look at an official controller that isn’t your hands. It’s also an hint toward the device’s enterprise applications.

Following that discovery, a HoloLens Companion app for Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile was announced. The app will broadcast what a HoloLens user is seeing to folks tuning in via the app. We’ve already seen this function teased in demo reels, so it’s not exactly a massive surprise.

Most recently, pre-orders for the developer edition of HoloLens were made available to the tune of a whopping $3,000 (around £2,160 or AU$4,202).

Plus, Scott Kelly is impressed by the thing – and he’s been to space.

Build quality and comfort

HoloLens is essentially two rings: a thicker, plastic outer one that contains the guts, and a slimmer, cushioned inner one that wraps your head. The inner ring’s fit adjusts with a roller in the back, sliding forward and backward.

That cushioning is a small touch, but one I appreciate for making it easier to forget you’re wearing the viewer and focus on the AR imagery in front of you.

The device isn’t supposed to sit on your nose, but I found its rubber nose guard to inevitably fall down my nose no matter how often I pried the HoloLens forward. Thankfully, it’s optional and comes off easily. HoloLens feels a lot better for me with it off.

I also struggled to get HoloLens to fit every time I put it on. I had to regularly re-tighten, re-situate and realign the headgear. When everything fit nicely, the AR imagery was in full view and it felt right. But if it was too tight, too high up or too far forward, it hindered the experience.

Standing still made for the best overall viewing experience. The adjustment issues cropped up especially when I would move around, which is part of the point in HoloLens.

If you have short hair or it’s pulled back, you might not have as much trouble as someone with long, loose hair, like myself. It may have been my ability to adjust, but I had a slight headache after I took HoloLens off, like I had been wearing a baseball cap that was two sizes too small.

The headgear I used was untethered, and I didn’t need my hands for anything other than selecting my “hologram” to move it. It wasn’t wired up for battery life, like the first early prototypes shown to press.

Fitting issues aside, when HoloLens fits right, it’s comfortable. But, like all virtual reality (VR) and AR headgear, its weight is front loaded. You can’t help but feel a noticeable weight hanging off your forehead.

The weight isn’t uncomfortable, but it is significant. If Microsoft can somehow counterbalance the weight on the sides or back, it would likely alleviate the front-heavy sensation.

I wear glasses, and I used HoloLens with them on. They don’t press into my face or feel tight around my head, unlike with most VR headsets. I also didn’t get nauseous, a frequent occurrence when I wear Oculus Rift.

It helps that I can still see my surroundings with HoloLens, so I don’t feel disoriented or claustrophobic. If only the HoloLens see-through screen weren’t so dark (but the room was dimly lit, so it may be just right for a brighter room).

Walking backward makes me feel most uneasy, as I can’t quickly turn to see whether something is behind me. The headgear also obstructs my upper peripheral view, so some of my vision is obscured.

HoloLens looks and feels like a premium device. Nothing about it screams “cheap”, and that has already been reflected in the developer edition’s price.

The gadget looks like it belongs in the office but would also blend well in any living room. As is, HoloLens feels too delicate to stay clean and unscathed in, say, a construction site.

I find myself handling HoloLens gently, so unless Microsoft does some ruggedizing, you’ll probably want to keep HoloLens out of the reach of youngsters.

Holographic viewing

The “hologram” – which these are not by the strictest definition – in my HoloLens experience consisted of two floating spheres, two yellow slides and some blocks stacked on a pad of paper.

It was called “Project Origami,” and so was meant to look and sound like folded paper.

To give the holograms (which turned into a game) functions, I added controls (gaze, gesture and voice), spatial sound, spatial mapping and the ability to pick up, move and place the holograms around the room.

Finally, an underworld was added to the hologram so that, when the spheres fell, an explosion created a gaping hole in the floor that the they descended into. Looking down the hole revealed a new world, complete with rolling hills and cranes soaring underneath my feet.

The HoloLens images projected onto the real world around me are vibrant, sharp and realistic – though, a little jittery. When I move around them, the holographic shapes behave like real objects, so I can see their backsides – or not at all, if they’re obstructed by other holograms.

When the paper spheres roll onto the floor, they roll around just like real balls would, bouncing around objects and looking real enough to pick up. When I peer into the underworld that opened up on the floor, it’s like I’m looking into, as my HoloLens “mentor” put it, a world I didn’t know was there the whole time.

But, looking at holograms slapped on top of the real world is just one half of the HoloLens equation. Controlling the holograms is the other.

Controlling and touching holograms

The HoloLens gaze controls are responsive and should be easy for any user to get the hang of almost immediately. It’s the other kinds of input where HoloLens has slightly more trouble.

While voice controls work, there is a lag between giving them and the hologram executing your commands. I had to say, “Let it roll!” to send the spheres down the slides, and there was a second-long pause before they took a tumble. It isn’t major, but enough to make me feel like I should repeat myself.

Gesture control is the hardest to get right, even though my experience was but a one-fingered, downward swipe. It took time to figure out the best distance to swipe away from HoloLens and where to put my finger for it to register.

Just imagine someone repeatedly swiping their finger downward in mid-air – that was me.

Once I finally found the sweet spot, though, the control worked better than expected. Instead of reaching out to touch the hologram, the swipe worked best when I held my hand comfortably in front of me.

Using gestures, I could select the Project Origami diagram, use my gaze to move it around the room, and then use another pinch to lock the hologram into a new spot (I moved it from in front of me to a couch to a coffee tablet to a desk.). This wasn’t Minority Report-level selecting and swiping, but impressive nonetheless.

The HoloLens uses spatial audio, which takes the experience to a whole new level. Ambient music played during the demo, and the spheres rolled to the the sound of crumpling paper.

The sound got louder as I approached the hologram and faded as I moved away. It added another dimension to the HoloLens experience, making it that much more immersive.

Of course, as I viewed the holograms, I was still able to see my surroundings. The holograms weren’t disrupted if someone happened to walk through my projection.

My favorite part of this HoloLens demo was a wire frame mesh that appeared on real-world objects to show how HoloLens perceives them. The mesh changed as HoloLens registered the objects and I moved my head to look at a new spot.

It also wrapped the people around me, though I could still make out their features from behind the digital framework. It was an awesome AR moment: the people themselves became part of the hologram.

As cool as it all was, it would have been less distracting if the images disappeared when I was talking to someone. From speaking with Microsoft representatives, it sounds like this will be possible with other apps, but not Project Origami.

It feels weird to talk to someone with HoloLens on – a little rude, as if I were wearing sunglasses indoors (or at night – zing).

The biggest issue with HoloLens’s holographic viewing is that the field of view is limited to what amounts to the size of a monitor in front of you – equivalent to 15 inches, we know now. You can see the edges of the virtual space where the hologram lives (which are basically the edges of the inner HoloLens frames).

Looking outside that space, or moving too close into it, cuts the the hologram off or makes it disappear completely. These edges weren’t visible during the wire mesh portion of the demo and therefore was more immersive, but the origami demo seemed as if it existed on a limited plane.

The holograms look best when I’m standing about four or five feet away and when there is more going on, like the wire frame mesh. There were glitches in my demo, and it didn’t work perfectly every time. Regardless, none of its takes away from my enjoyment of HoloLens – demos are always incomplete.

It’s important to note that, while Microsoft’s on-stage HoloLens demos have featured polished and seemingly advanced holograms, what I saw was not in the same league in terms of quality, complexity or functionality.

Maybe Microsoft is saving all the wow factor for its keynotes, but my demo was a less refined and less capable version of what we’ve seen in on-stage demos. My experience, while impressive, felt like child’s play AR compared to what’s been in Microsoft’s keynotes.

That’s not to say that HoloLens can’t project these advanced images down the road. And, as Microsoft said, I was wearing “early development hardware.” But Redmond has work to do to before the reality it’s projecting onstage aligns with what you and me actually see.

Early verdict

Neither the HoloLens software nor the hardware is perfect. But, if Microsoft can work out the kinks, HoloLens will be an immersive entertainment device that could easily fit in an office.

Despite its faults, using HoloLens was delightful. With more robust apps, more reliable functionality and an improved viewing experience, HoloLens could become the AR viewer to end them all.

Frankly, HoloLens could transform how we interact with the world. These are lofty ideas, and the device as-is won’t accomplish any of them yet, but the potential is there – and strong.

HoloLens is the most fascinating tech I’ve tested in a long time. We still don’t know how much it will cost at retail, but HoloLens seems to have unlimited potential – that which it seems like it can actually live up to. And that alone is incredibly exciting.

Head to Page 2 for our brief impressions of a few more recent experiences with HoloLens.

Joe Osborne has also contributed to this review.

Further impressions of HoloLens

What follows are our impressions of HoloLens following demonstrations provided through a more recent visit by Volvo to techradar headquarters, penned by Duncan Bell, and during E3 2015, penned by Nick Pino, respectively.

Volvo puts HoloLens to work

The $3,000 HoloLens has another new demonstration: a virtual car showroom for Volvo. Yes, that sounds boring, but it’s actually an impressive showcase for what Microsoft’s “mixed reality” headset can do – and what it can’t do.

First up, while the hardware didn’t appear to have been updated since Build 2015, I found it comfortable to wear, at least for the 15 minutes that the demo lasted. This may very well be because, with a fairly prominent – but not huge – nose and shaved head, I have the optimal cranium for HoloLens.

I also wear glasses, and these fitted easily enough under the headset.

The virtual cars that appeared before my eyes were genuinely impressive, both at miniature, tabletop size and real-to-life car size. They looked like CGI and weren’t photo realistic, but they were “real” enough to impress.

One thing that hadn’t changed, and by all accounts never will, is that the visuals were in a “box” hanging in front of my eyes rather than filling my whole field of vision. According to HoloLens senior director Scott Erickson, increasing the field of view would make it VR rather than mixed reality, and therefore too difficult to walk around in. Of course, there could also be technical reasons why they can’t do this.

The box is problematic in that, as you move closer to holograms, the edges of them literally sheer off until you step back, which is quite jarring. On the other hand, because the “unreal” space is so clearly defined and limited meant I could walk around Microsoft’s space, which included chairs, tables and a stage, without ever fearing I might face plant.

HoloLens and Halo make a fine pairing

We’ve had a glimpse at the potential for HoloLens in gaming with an immersive – though impractical – briefing for Halo 5: Guardians for Xbox One. From the voice of Jennifer Hale to a model of a UNSC Leviathan Supercarrier and Spartan Captain Sarah Palmer, the demo helped prepare me for a 12-on-12 battle that, it should be noted, my team won by a landslide.

One negative to come out of the showing was to learn that the viewer’s limited field of view isn’t likely to get much better anytime soon. While the hardware isn’t final, said HoloLens lead Kudo Tsunoda, the field of view, which feels like looking through a mobile computer monitor, won’t be “hugely, noticeably different either.”

Source: techradar.com

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