News

Microsoft Committed to Mixed Reality and HoloLens 2

Microsoft is reassuring the public that it still is focused on  mixed-reality products, including Microsoft Mesh and the HoloLens 2 headset.

Microsoft's mixed-reality product commitments were described by Robin Seiler, corporate vice president and chief operating officer of Microsoft's Windows and Devices organization, and manager of the company's mixed-reality operations. Seiler offered the following assurances:

  • HoloLens 2 is still getting produced by Microsoft, and it receives monthly software updates.
  • The Dynamics 365 Guides and Remote Assist apps continue to get updates to meet customer needs.
  • Microsoft Mesh is getting investments, including for "more immersive collaboration experiences in the metaverse."
  • The Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) program with the U.S. Army, which uses HoloLens technology, is undergoing product design changes under contract.

Microsoft did put an end to AltspaceVR, a meeting solution using avatars, Seiler confirmed. Microsoft's learnings from AltspaceVR are getting put into Microsoft Mesh, Microsoft's metaverse product that also lets people meet in virtual spaces via avatars.

Microsoft characterized its Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) as now being a separate open source project that it'll support for integration with HoloLens 2. Microsoft is planning to make "continued open-source contributions to MRTK when needed" to that end.

Microsoft's assurances about its Mesh and HoloLens products are arriving after an announced 10,000 cut in its personnel and other changes potentially affecting its metaverse work. For instance, its AltspaceVR product was announced as shutting down and its MRTK developer team was said to have been "eliminated." The company's U.S. Army IVAS contract using HoloLens technology has traversed a bumpy road over the years, and Congress recently elected to cut back on some of its funding.

The metaverse theme has typically been highlighted by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during major Microsoft events, although it wasn't top-of-list during last year's Build event keynote talk. Microsoft's conception is that there will be business and consumer metaverse implementations, but most of Microsoft's announcements so far have described possible business implementations.

So far, Microsoft's efforts have fallen into its "industrial metaverse" category, where HoloLens 2 is used with the Dynamics 365 Guides and Remote Assist apps. It's being used for things like shop-floor training efforts, with Microsoft showcasing Toyota's use of those tools. Microsoft has been improving these add-on apps, and announced back in December that the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides and Remote Assist add-on apps were getting combined to offer a "single seamless experience" for users.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

  • Microsoft, Oracle Announce Updates to Joint Database IaaS Service

    The Oracle Database@Azure infrastructure-as-a-service offering from Oracle and Microsoft is getting new capabilities, including integrations with key Microsoft data and security services.

  • Image of a futuristic maze

    The 2024 Microsoft Product Roadmap

    Everything Microsoft partners and IT pros need to know about major Microsoft product milestones this year.

  • 2025 Support Cliffs Approaching for Exchange 2016, Dynamics 365 PSA

    Microsoft recently sounded the warning bell for two of its products, Exchange Server 2016 and Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation (PSA), both of which are set to reach end-of-support milestones next year.

  • Windows Recall To Finally See Daylight in October Preview

    After postponing the public debut of its controversial Windows Recall AI feature, Microsoft is has finally settled on releasing it as a broad preview in October.