Microsoft introduces HoloLens 2, AI camera for developers

Barcelona, Feb 25 (IANS) Microsoft has introduced its mixed reality headset HoloLens 2 which promises to be more immersive and comfortable.HoloLens 2 will initially be available for $3,500 in the US, Japan, China, Germany, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand, the company announced at the ongoing 2019 Mobile World Congress here on Sunday."We have more than doubled the field of view in HoloLens 2, while maintaining the industry-leading holographic density of 47 pixels per degree of sight," it said.Taking advantage of new time-of-flight depth sensor, combined with built-in Artificial Intelligene (AI) and semantic understanding, HoloLens 2 enables direct manipulation of holograms with the same instinctual interactions you would use with physical objects in the real world."HoloLens 2 contains eye-tracking sensors that make interacting with holograms even more natural," said the company.The new dial-in fit system makes the headset comfortable to wear for longer periods.In addition to HoloLens 2, Microsoft also announced Azure Kinect Developer Kit (DK) that combines industry-leading AI camera in a single device for developers."At its core is the time-of-flight depth sensor we developed for HoloLens 2, high-def RGB camera and a 7-microphone circular array that will enable development of advanced computer vision and speech solutions with Azure," explained the company.Initially available in the US and China, the Azure Kinect DK is available for preorder at $399.Microsoft also announced two new Azure mixed reality services to help developers and businesses build cross-platform, contextual and enterprise-grade mixed reality applications.
--IANS na/pg/ksk