Microsoft HoloLens 2 Review

The technology to make AR a truly viable new medium can be glimpsed in HoloLens 2, but it's going to be a long time yet before it's fully realized. When it finally arrives, though, Microsoft will no doubt be very glad it had this head start. Here's our Microsoft HoloLens 2 Review.
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[@takurotim3496]

Watching this after the Vision Pro Release

[@dj52100]

It'll be cool if it could run fl studio, or any music daw. Imagine being a producer

[@davidnashmusic1276]

haha so true

[@trinityUYA]

that's too much power lol

[@TroyBlackford]

I use Studio One and would definitely enjoy being able to use this! There's some real cool modular synth apps for Oculus VR you can get right now that demonstrate the power of your suggestion. Great idea. Can't wait for the tech to catch up.

[@davewerner7609]

Start building it. I’d imagine you should be able to port the app in to the workflow. No?

[@Squeph]

Imagine being able to have as many monitors on your desk as you want.

[@p_a_n_da]

I cannot wait to see these things get huge, I have been following the HoloLens production for a while here, but great vid man, helps me allot while looking to buy one!

[@emilevangheem6165]

Same waiting for it to become more consumer friendly

[@airtight-gamingnews3910]

Same I’ve been watching hololens videos for like 6 years at this point

[@kdreamscosmos4279]

I find this much better than apple vision pro

[@ayonbiswas4186]

That Ford GT part legitimately looked like a scene from Tony Stark pov!...

[@rickmemester2137]

Soo true

[@travisfahs6519]

AR right now kind of feels like where VR was in the 90s. The pieces and concepts are there but it doesn't come close to adding up to a practical whole.

[@GinsengStrip-wt8bl]

There must be a lot of potential though since US Army decided to use this tech. Microsoft just got a huge contract for infantry AR system.

[@BenjiQ575]

there's a lot of stuff that's easier to develop with dedicated VR though. things like tracking the eye and using AI algorithms to develop or track/respond to behaviour. AR can just sit around and wait while VR surges ahead and then wake up one day and apply the success of VR to AR development. I imagine AR is behind VR but, like, not by very far.

[@jdtv50]

Now it feels like the 90s were supposed to be the eighties

[@ririndesuyo673]

@@GinsengStrip-wt8bl The Military version is actually pretty ahead of the current HL2. If I recall the Military version has 80 deg FOV and also bigger battery life for instance. This is made possible since it's customized for the military needs and forgoes comfort for some cases (e.g. it's heavier, has a battery pack etc...) for more functionality. i.redd.it/grtue2t7bps51.png It looks something like from Call of Duty imo lol. It's also pretty useful even now for business cases, MS Dynamic Guides makes it pretty easy to create assembly instructions for training scenarios and also call expert technicians to a site for repairs or maintenance without having the expert booking a flight towards that area.

[@jdtv50]

Cedric Villani if you pray enough maybe The big dude will consider giving a shit hb that

[@USATAZZILLA]

I work for HP Indigo and we have a few customers that have these on site. I do remote support on the Indigo digital presses and to use these is a game changer. I got to work with a customer yesterday who had the HOLOLENS and to see what they are seeing first hand was a real help on fixing their press issue. The interaction between us was seamless and never had to question what the customer was doing or where they were at on the press. I feel excited that I am part of this technology and have the opportunity to use it in a real world situation

[@Flow-.-]

Pretty neat how these are already implemented

[@zeroh_chill2966]

How is this different than using your phone with FaceTime? Playing devils advocate, lets say you were helping someone fix a problem from the other side of the planet and you needed to see what they see. Would it be roughly the same thing as if they had the ability to point their phone on FaceTime towards what they’re doing? I’m trying to see if this is an argument worth having with my boss to get a set for our mechanics in the field working aircraft and need extra assistance.

[@USATAZZILLA]

@@zeroh_chill2966 So the issue with facetime is both the support person and the person being helped have to have the same type of phone Apple. If user has android we are stuck. Also you are depending on the clients cell service for connection and data use something that may have speed limits or data caps. The halolens does more than just share what they see you can circle stuff point arrows at parts and they stay marked during that session making it easier to help someone who may have less knowledge about the repair or part in question. Its much deeper than just sharing video

[@Patcul]

Still dont see why this is better than just sharing your screen

[@USATAZZILLA]

@@Patcul Not going to try and convince you its better in so many ways but I don't care what you do give it a try yu might just see why yourself vs taking my word.

[@Al_Pantalone]

I see a future in performance capture for video games with these things. Maybe one day actors can see the in-game environments they're supposed to be in or even other characters fully modeled they're talking to

[@maldor56]

I was thinking the same thing but for movies. With so many actors hating green screen by studios relying on it more they could put the actors where they need to be

[@andrewatkins8925]

You can with VR

[@TroyBlackford]

Great review! Can't wait to see this technology ten years from now. If this was affordable, more responsive, with a wider field of view, every reasonable person alive would want it. If they can fit it into a much smaller headset, on top of those changes, it would be unstoppable. I really appreciate the quality and thoroughness of your review!

[@twistedyogert]

10 years? I'd say 5.

[@HouseOfHockey14]

@@twistedyogert No, it’s gonna be 10.

[@annatar1266]

@@HouseOfHockey14 yes, give it at least until the end of 2030 then we shall see it being used by every layers of our society.

[@mr_niceman]

Apple Vision Pro

[@omegaasura21]

Amazing, slick review. Man deserves more subs!

[@jerrysmagic007]

My brother in law let me try the halo lens 1 when he came over(works at microsoft) it was amazing to see what it does, but yeah years away from playing AAA games on. but it will revolutionize games and the way we work. It blew me away like the first time you went to a 3d movie.

[@matthewboyd8689]

I'll check back every 3-5 years to see where it is. I don't like the idea of these in contacts (like people say it should be in the "distant future") but some classic terminator sun glasses would be nice. VR really made it's first steps about 5 years ago (2016) and started to become awesome with Beat Saber a few years ago (although even VR could still use improvement) I see this technology being useful for industrial work in 5-8 years max and 3 years after that office work and a few more years before Pokémon Go gets it's best version

[@Icybubba]

Already being used in industrial work. Microsoft is making bank in the enterprise market. Also the US military has a contract and Microsoft custom made a military version of HoloLens 2 according to their needs, like yeah HoloLens is doing really well in that market

[@kevingehler5074]

@@Icybubba I can second that. I'm a student and working on a Hololens 2 project at my university that supports garage workers to see what they have to do step-by-step to repair a car. Its just a project for the bin, but put more than 2 employees that havent had any experience with programming before onto such a project and you'll have a useful tool in a few iterations. Or if you'd started when it released in 2019 you'd have a good tool by now. Its quite stressing to the eyes if you use it a lot though. Never the less, its a great tool for geving needed information in real time or remoteassistance. Voice activation works surprisingly well. For Games I'd recommend the Quest 2.

[@sams8502]

The latency doesn't look right, but I must say I am excited about how it will impact my work. I hate using multiple monitors for coding, I like to Google stuff while I'm watching Netflix, and it will be very cool to be able to see 3D models.

[@kjeshfdskjhfkjdshfkj]

Surprised you didn’t go into the graffiti application, it was my favorite one to play around with. Also would love to hear about more of the applications for the medical field as well education applications, like how nasa is currently using it or how the military ordered a boatload of headsets as well.

[@twistedyogert]

I remember reading that the US military has a similar system implemented into flight helmets now that allow pilots to "see through" their aircraft.

[@ingemar_von_zweigbergk]

how does depth of view feel? can you focus your eyes on the distance when you look at the environment in the background, like the trees or buildings in the beginning of the video

[@yesfredfredburger8008]

I just want a visor that works as a monitor for my windows pc, so I can code and sip tea outside

[@thejackimonster9689]

What would be pretty important in my opinion to be more immersive is improving rendering and occlusion. I mean if I want to touch the virtual surfaces of windows, menus and meshes, they shouldn't be rendered on top of everything unregarded to the context. It should be possible to generate a depth buffer from the headsets depth sensor and merge virtual surfaces with it, so that your real hands in front of the virtual objects just disable rendering behind them. This is already possible with a Kinect so it shouldn't be a huge issue to implement. Otherwise the performance and responsiveness doesn't seem to good to be honest. It doesn't make much sense to run a bloated OS like Windows 10 on that chip. It's probably a cut down version anyway but I would appreciate using an OS designed for this use case much more which basic Windows 10 clearly isn't. I mean I could test around with the first version of the HoloLens a little and the worst part of it was that it run Windows because it filled the whole memory via OS usage and crashed our application. The hardware is obviously still pretty interesting and the current state of tracking the environment and its user at the same time is impressive. But there's still much progress to be done.. probably on the efficiency of the chips running the software as well.

[@nobalance_nb]

News just broke that Microsoft has partnered with Samsung to work on HoloLens 3. I’m speculating a huge leap from HoloLens 2 something out of this world.

[@mikedesverknopf4681]

Very thorough, quick and simple explanations. Thanks for spending the money and time for us plebs

[@ChopLabalagun]

nice , very real review. thanks but you missed a few stuff, how much light will affect the holograms. can you read on your pc with that thing on? how long will it last? very important for me is drift!! what about dirft??? what about the 3d mesh have you ever seen drift?

[@kiachi470]

Amazing review and work to be honest

[@ojtechml]

Screens for me still have room for improvement, the rainbow banding is really noticeable on the one I use at work.

[@jothain]

what do you use it for?

[@honorebelwalker6244]

Hi! Thank you for your video, can I use Hololens on Mac?

[@twistedyogert]

Honestly I think the Hololens was meant to be used indoors. It's similar to a computer monitor. You wouldn't bring that outside. Honestly it's a good experiment and would be incredibly useful if and when all the kinks are worked out. I'd buy one if they become available to the mass market. It looks incredibly fun.

[@kylenissen6826]

Even then, having this sort of tech for navigation or surveying could be incredibly useful, so something that can still be used out doors would be good

[@rz9974]

I'd say it's very possible. Now you bring your cellphone, which is basically a small computer, outside and it was hard to imagine when PC was hardly a thing.

[@samkostos4520]

Can you program an object to search for rectangular 🚪 doors? So you load the object and make it look for the way out. That would be the most amazing thing

[@VulcanEditing]

Still so odd this product was unveiled so many years ago at E3 on the Xbox main stage.... lol can’t wait for this headset to be consumer ready though

[@hwalker870]

Which software was used to expand the engine in the beginning of the video?

[@dimitriognibene8945]

finally an objective and insightful review!

[@Fourriot]

he needs to brush his teeth ngl

[@samarthtandale9121]

Great Honest review 👍🏼

[@melvinsgjr]

Apple Vision Pro vs HoloLens 2 vs Quest 3? Which is your team?

[@TWINBULLSTUDIO]

@uploadvr what is the application at frame 9:33?

[@AndyAgus1]

Great review

[@alexlee6859]

Apparently Lynx R1 is coming out this year. It's AR and VR in one headset

[@oojiflip]

They have a load of them at my university, I'll see if I can have a go every now and then!

[@khoaphqwerty8034]

I just tried this at school today and it was really fun i even had laser pointing fingers!

[@oozlexoo2366]

Mixed bc it can change the enviroment?

[@Zer0TheHer0_VR]

i love how someone final put the computer in the back and not just a battery...it makes no sense for it to be in the front for the quest when you can clearly see that it work fine in the back of this

[@ananiaspereira8839]

is it possible to use hololens in the google translator?

[@velhines377]

I own one of these and use it for work. Mine is kinda updated

[@Zensiji]

I saw a prototype for HoloLens 1 about 6 years ago. Back then it was a full head helmet, almost like a Power Rangers helmet. Glad to see they reduced the weight, however that old helmet might have been fun, lol.

[@eiliannoyes5212]

Thanks!

[@hwalker870]

Can you use on Mac?

[@RolandMcGruner]

Honesty I just want to play Sudoku, like on my phone, but without my wrists getting sore, and my eyes strained from persistent close focus.

[@andrewmurphy8154]

HoloLens 2 looks almost exactly like the old Meta 2 headset2. I wonder if Microsoft was the mysterious buyer of Meta's assets when the bank called in their loan or if this is just a simple case of convergent evolution.

[@krisxpytot]

are you getting the 2 ?

[@HunterGeophysicsAustralia]

Any idea how this feels wearing it all day? Comfortable or uncomfortable? Too heavy? Or are they good to wear? And are the batteries replaceable or does it just charge like a phone? Thanks.

[@nedtics675]

Wouldn’t wear it all day but is comfy for at least 4 hours Not heavy. Slightly heavier than a full face MTB helmet They are easily customised to suit your head and the straps don’t rub. Same tightening mechanism as a bike helmet. Feels very expensive and looks it. Batteries are charged same as a phone. I’d agree that a bit of work needs to be done on the soft ware.

[@HunterGeophysicsAustralia]

@@nedtics675 thanks for the reply. I was thinking of using it for work but figured out a really low-tech, quicker, and better solution instead than what I had in mind for the HoloLens. Thanks though.

[@Upstatecashew]

Think you forgot the best feature which is being able to use a remote desktop virtual screen with a real keyboard !

[@Adam-M-]

But can it run Crysis?

[@siavm]

That headstart and apple is the one that may take it to the goal line. Still looks uncomfortable their headset but it looks miles ahead of what Microsoft has done. Unless HoloLens 3 is going to make a surprise appearance this year.

[@Aryan-bw8xz]

yo guys i realised that you can mine in minecraft just now bruh how many of you knew that

[@SpiderRL]

I love this!

[@mcmadness110]

This is an old headset. I can’t wait for hololense 3 and hopefully it will have the same display as in the IVAS headset for the army which has a much larger fov.

[@suicidalbanananana]

Hopefully not because the Army wants functionality over pretty pictures, while it has "much larger fov" it has a much lower pixel density. Besides that notice how all the IVAS pictures show a big ass cable going out of the glasses to something? theres a backpack or whatever involved, the whole point of a consumer Hololens is ease of use (completely self contained glasses) and visual quality, kind of the opposite of what the army requires.

[@deeptamajumder5394]

And here is apple vision

[@alexander2685]

Apple lol noobs.

[@fshort]

+1 for the Pearl Jam posters

[@abhijith_mb]

Is this better thn Apple's visionpro

[@firiam9392]

I am from Belarus, but that was very informative video, u told so many interesting things, using words, as i know)

[@badsofficial]

So crazy just how primitive the interactions and animations are when you consider what it will become. And how big VR headsets are to accomplish these very early stage experiences. I give it 6 or 7 years before it’s doing it in the frame of regular sunglasses. And some day, contact lenses or direct neuro connection. And we’ll look back on these and laugh Good for Microsoft though. This is the best you can do with todays tech and you need companies willing to make imperfect versions for the amazing ones of the future to be possible. Humble roots

[@wheelmanfull]

Its 5 or 6 years old, so i doubt

[@k3nz1e73]

i’m gonna buy it!

[@Souless-Monster]

you presented this better than microsoft did in the demo I saw

[@strangewayfaringstranger]

Ha I just went through a microsoft survey, and I basically said a similar thing. They should watch this video to see how it's done.

[@kevingehler5074]

It is indeed a mixed reality Headset. Mixed Reality encompasses everything that mixes the real with the virtual. It doesn't matter if you can see through the objects.

[@Kudoshi]

This all of a sudden reminds me of amusphere

[@achillesroblox]

can't wait for this to be commercially available to everyone

[@Andrexcolomgamer43]

now we have Apple Vision Pro

[@alexander2685]

And it sucks I would lay my money down for that.

[@RavarsenBlogspot]

Look, all I want is portable monitors to use multi windows of Firefox browser anywhere I am

[@computersandkeyboards]

apple vision pro?

[@kokzos]

cant wait to make this technology more accurate

[@kupaz]

Interesting coming back to this after apples announcement

[@christopherwilliams3293]

Just saw what Apple just released and if Hololens 2 can sell for 3.5K, I don't see why Apple can't sell a bunch. It's a much better product.

[@denM-ey3vb]

HoloLens looks uncomfortable and ugly. Apple really knows how to market their stuff much better.

[@user-yf4co5in7d]

​@@denM-ey3vb iw. cope more, nothing is new with apple. they just steal techs and claim it that they pioneer it. and this is an old device, try comparing your phone 2 yrs ago to current doofas.

[@zeke7515]

I've used both the HL1 and 2. The 2's bigger FOV is still teeny. Definitely not close for a consumer device. If you have or get to use one for work, you'll be much happier you don't have to use the original.

[@suicidalbanananana]

Fov will increase as hardware limitations change, you are correct that its definably not close to a consumer device, but that's not what its currently trying to be either. Jamie is right, even with the fov limitations there is simply no other device that comes close, yes we still have a few years to go before we get to something that a consumer actually wants to buy, but thats okay, Microsoft isnt doing this for profits today, they are doing it for profits in a few years (similar to how Oculus & Valve are handling VR actually)

[@xsuploader]

@@suicidalbanananana hololens 3 is already confirmed

[@totidoki05]

ok honestly the only thing i'd buy it for is unlimited screens with free size and rotation all with 3d depth

[@FlockofSmeagles]

I would be happy with a device that is solely developed around the concept of integrating a computer desktop. The tech is is exactly where it needs to be to accomplish that task, and I would back it in a fucking heart beat.

[@MarkKevinBesingaWebDev]

i was really amaze about vision pro. until i saw this and it was 2 years old video..

[@FrostyMountainForge]

When I was in highschool we had the first hololense, Back in 2016. It was years ahead of its time. Using it truely felt like the future, I am glad to see the world is starting to embrace this technology

[@ProudToBeAHillbilly]

US Military has offered something around a $480 Million dollar contract for MicroSoft to make these and some of the people who work there want nothing to do with it but I don’t see MicroSoft allowing $480 Million dollars to walk out the front door lol

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Meanwhile the US Army "Sold!" Which they are going to use it for the same thing you always had in video games... A hud or HMD in this case... As for me that is also all I want from AR but also a head tracker and have AR screens for Flight sims and my daily life connected to a phone/PC. Which does not involve me leaving the house much and when I do it's for doctor's appoiments, visting my Sister and going to a local TT shop for game night... So, the main flaw with holo lens for me is the wearablity... which you can get the first one used for $300 because of enterpirse... But yeah I'll get a AR headest as soon as they work for the stuff I need them for.

[@mrokhaos8269]

respect, this kind of product is the one that pretty much no one will willing to buy...but it is inventing the most cuting-edge tech will change the world in the long run

[@SunnySzetoSz2000]

you can play VR program, so it is "mix"

[@niltonb.1610]

The best "home/regular user" review so far

[@--JYM-Rescuing-SS-Minnow]

👍

[@ChristopherToro]

I didn't even know this was actually real, thought it was a concept that never came to fruitions lol

[@jerryldavis1823]

Funny how apple always wins with these tech. Others have been doing it for such a long time but when apple vision pro comes it becomes good . They really know how to release things when it’s actually good enough.

[@mugo369]

That's VR. This is AR vastly different

[@XenogearsPS]

this is the future.

[@SussyPniffer]

So these are early stage tony stark glasses?

[@gabrielsierra6890]

I would like to see an integration of this to ATAK

[@xmcnuggets5623]

Can’t wait for AR to become more advanced and less of an industry product. But this really does show that we aren’t that far from it at all

[@jimmehjiimmeehh9748]

The way you pronounce Opaque is bizarre as all hell. :D

[@christopherjung2697]

Do you think its realistic that we see Apple or Google making the first consumer friendly AR glasses within the next 2 years (with functionalities like hand tracking)?

[@dartboy8887]

You would have no idea

[@AkumaKumaa]

You guys imagine too much, I've got one and trust me, using this thing is super tired for you to do so much thing. Just try to put your hands on the air without supporting on your elbow, then moving around like you are typing keyboard and moving stuff around only with your index finger for like 20 mins. And you will know what I mean

[@BarokaiRein]

They need to make gloves for these sorts of things. That way it's more accurate and doesn't get disturbed by other things moving.

[@zengrath]

This is all well and good but i don't see AR going mainstream. I wish Microsoft would contribute to vr development and make a good affordable headset for the xbox/windows that allows playing x-box and windows and steam titles on it. I think that would greatly help push VR to mainstream. AR on other hand while cool for many things, i don't see as a good way of experiencing games, thing about VR itself is your sucked into a different world, AR your just playing stuff in your real averment and while again cool at first, it's just not a long term mainstream thing that i see taking off. As far as a work device i see where AR has it's benefits over VR so i guess that's why Microsoft is going that route, i just wish with all the money Microsoft has that they helped with getting VR industry mainstream too. There just way too much unrealized potential still in VR, we are still stuck with what is essentially demo games because not enough people have VR for anyone to spend the time/money making good VR games yet, and that's frustrating, knowing the potential and nothing is being done about it yet. Even Valve has seemed to given up on the other 2 VR games they planned on releasing after half life alyx, which is disappointing but i guess they know it's just not profitable right now.

[@XeLProductions]

AR will definitely become mainstream. It’s not just for games.

[@alexwheeler550]

I'd buy one for work to watch movies

[@mayhem7975]

We are close people play the sowrd art online song

[@Klaus-Schwab_Dictator]

Microsoft hololens 2 , can't wait to see it.

[@onlysublime]

the ultimate issue with the Hololens was Microsoft didn't have a processor that was available that was powerful enough and battery efficient enough to drive the Hololens. V1 ran on an Atom because Intel didn't have anything that didn't suck batteries dry in 5 minutes. V2 was on an off-the-shelf qualcomm soc that was barely enough for flagship smartphones. If only Qualcomm had their latest that was built by the engineers that left Apple's processor line. Also, Microsoft didn't want to have a battery pack with a wire that you could yank. Even then, the Hololens 2 with battery pack on your head is still lighter than the Apple headset with the battery pack off your head. And the battery life on the Apple headset isn't that great which is why every Apple user that bought it is using 2 batteries.

[@tanveersingh8290]

But I wonder how it projects black colour.

[@goldLizzzard]

It kinda doesn't! Pure black turns transparent, so if you want to have black holograms, you need to use a really dark blue for example...

[@claytonandrewswrestling2490]

Sort of reminds me of ARI from heavy rain

[@did3d523]

when they undrstand that need lcd behind the oled to close black behnind 3D

[@killer13324]

i want to pull up my ships from space engineers

[@CP-kq4eh]

Ar is the next vr. Why won't anyone else ! Make more. If it was cheaper I bet it'd fly off the shelves

[@LargeBanana]

"Just make more 5Head"

[@mayowaosibodu]

Woah this looks so different from the demo in the video where a woman was on stage It looked much more like a finished product there Wow, there’s still a lot of work to be done on this

[@warrior100girl]

It costs like 4K €. :D

[@kylekeenan3485]

Ar and VR has come along well, but so has everything else and this results in it still feeling old and clunky. Untill we get 4k resolution to each eye and a large field of view and at a reasonable price, like many, I won't be even considering purchasing it.