[monk_e_boy]

Is AR the future?

I demo'd google cardboard VR to a bunch of kids (prob about 200 ish) who thought it was amazing. They really enjoyed it and the feel from teaching them using VR was that this was another tool people will use in the future.

Kids are already wired up with headphones, phones in pockets, phones wired to external battery boosters. I say this because I thought cumbersome cables from phone to goggles would be a no no and the technology would have to wait for a wireless solution. But I think I am wrong, kids already have cables snaking around their bodies.

Personally I think external cameras that can show 'the outside world' inside the VR world is the future. I'm interested in your thoughts on AR... this I see as a great tool for industry, but not for the general public?

[doublerebel]

I've believed it's the future since long before I had a hololens, so I am biased. But to me AR is far more than glasses, AR should be a natural extension of human function for all senses.

People really don't like the concept that I can see a world they can't experience. Some people become offended. Making people feel comfortable has a long way to go, but as you mention kids start with no preconceived notions so this may not be a stigma for future generations.

[NotQuantum]

> People really don't like the concept that I can see a world they can't experience. Some people become offended

This is the /exact/ kind of elitism that killed Google Glass. The whole "I have this and you don't" mentality is childish and damaging.

[doublerebel]

It's not the attitude of the wearer, I and other devs I've met really enjoy sharing it with everyone and wish it was more accessible. But I don't have a case full of hololenses to create a shared experience. Nevertheless in a group if one or two people are nerding out sometimes somebody finds it unpleasant. I can understand.

[Klathmon]

Do you think a dedicated "streaming output" would help?

When I use my Google Daydream, being able to "cast" my screen to a TV and it really helps with this feeling as everyone else can watch along.

If the cost didn't increase too much, I feel that an onboard camera that can overlay what the user is seeing to show a 3rd party could help with that feeling. (Or if it already has a camera onboard, perhaps some better software to make casual sharing of your perspective easier)

[doublerebel]

Yes, it's possible to do this using the HTTP server that hololens runs. It's pretty sweet it streams performance data as well as the muxed camera+virtual stream. We got some really good results today recording a demo that way.

Microsoft did an awesome job with providing built-in tools and the vast majority of MIT open source hololens examples.

It's very technical and dev heavy, it would be great to see an app that will provide the streaming feature without the admin pairing currently necessary for the "server" access.

[TheHoloHerald]

We've demoed the HoloLens to hundreds of people and I find this the case alot, that is, until they put it on themselves and understand/experience what's going on. MR/AR is one of the hardest things to explain and understand until you have experienced it yourself but once people put the HoloLens on, it takes only a minute or two until it becomes second nature whether they are 6 or 60. There's just something natural about the whole experience.

[iplaw]

AR is the primary use case I see going forward, and live-feed-augmented VR is really just an extension of AR.

[cr0sh]

> live-feed-augmented VR is really just an extension of AR

Two things you can get from live-feed-aug'd VR that you can't get with current thru-glass AR solutions (maybe hololens is different?):

1. The "color" black (and true opaque objects)

2. Wide field-of-view (FOV)

The first is a physic limitation of thru-glass AR implementations; it's not likely to be different any time soon. The second I would expect to over time be improved.

The downside of a live-feed-aug'd VR system is resolution - the resolution of everything is not high enough to be what people want. While I doubt the resolution of an AR system is any better, because the FOV is smaller, and a thru-glass view system is used instead of a live feed, it becomes much less of an issue.