HoloLens don't fail me now!
I'm slightly pissed here. Might be pre-mature, and I sure hope it is. But basically, after the Build conference a lot of journalists came back with the gripe that the FoV on the HoloLens in the near production unit they saw was MUCH reduced from the one experienced in January at the original event.
I can think of two possible reasons for this; battery or SoC. Both may even be to blame if true.
According to the link, which I read some time ago, HoloLens will be running the next gen Atom processor. Which is supposed to be much the same CPU-wise and quite a bit faster GPU-wise than the current Bay Trail SoC's. My wife has a Bay Trail tablet and while I can say that the performance is probably FAR better than anyone would expect from the Atom moniker, it is still not a match for even a Core I-3 on either level.
Obviously, being an Atom unit, that chip will also be a fairly performant one battery-wise. And for a consumer device, these may seem like obvious trade-offs to keep cost and weight down.
For me however, and I think most who would be an early adopter of such a project, those aren't workable trade-offs. Honestly, I would rather the device be more expensive to accommodate more power and tethered to accommodate battery concerns in exchange for an FoV that fills the glass space as much as possible. I think the same is true even, of *most* of the proposed use cases. Early on this will likely be more an educational and scientific tool I think.
For consumers where I see value is using this to "replace" the home office or as a gaming device.
In my home office, I would sit at a desk with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and no other electronic clutter. My calendar would be pinned to the wall, my primary app pinned where my monitor currently resides. A music app pinned off to the side somewhere. Maybe a massive photo app in slideshow mode somewhere to set the mood.
As for gaming I would generally be in a single room anyway. Yes there is vast potential for games to work their augmented reality on whole floors or buildings. But that fairly optimistic for the 1st release of the hardware. Just the holographic experience, even tethered to a single room would be magical enough for those early adopters.
When my wife is watching TV, I might pin the Xbox app to the wall in the living room and stream some games to that. Once Windows 10 and HoloLens are out, that should be something I can do. Or if my wife is playing a game I could also patch the TV feed through to HoloLens in the Xbox app.
And, rumours already are that this will cost "substantially more than an Xbox One". In other words, this thing won't be cheap. Which kills most of its viability as a consumer product anyway. My only hope is that they realize this, and if the FoV people described is the final size or near-final size, that they also build a second, more expensive version that improves on the FoV. As stated, I would pay more for that. Even if it means a tether.
Don't screw this up! I don't want this technology to die. It looks like just about the best new thing in a damn long time, and I'd hate to see silly decisions kill it before its time.
I can think of two possible reasons for this; battery or SoC. Both may even be to blame if true.
According to the link, which I read some time ago, HoloLens will be running the next gen Atom processor. Which is supposed to be much the same CPU-wise and quite a bit faster GPU-wise than the current Bay Trail SoC's. My wife has a Bay Trail tablet and while I can say that the performance is probably FAR better than anyone would expect from the Atom moniker, it is still not a match for even a Core I-3 on either level.
Obviously, being an Atom unit, that chip will also be a fairly performant one battery-wise. And for a consumer device, these may seem like obvious trade-offs to keep cost and weight down.
For me however, and I think most who would be an early adopter of such a project, those aren't workable trade-offs. Honestly, I would rather the device be more expensive to accommodate more power and tethered to accommodate battery concerns in exchange for an FoV that fills the glass space as much as possible. I think the same is true even, of *most* of the proposed use cases. Early on this will likely be more an educational and scientific tool I think.
For consumers where I see value is using this to "replace" the home office or as a gaming device.
In my home office, I would sit at a desk with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and no other electronic clutter. My calendar would be pinned to the wall, my primary app pinned where my monitor currently resides. A music app pinned off to the side somewhere. Maybe a massive photo app in slideshow mode somewhere to set the mood.
As for gaming I would generally be in a single room anyway. Yes there is vast potential for games to work their augmented reality on whole floors or buildings. But that fairly optimistic for the 1st release of the hardware. Just the holographic experience, even tethered to a single room would be magical enough for those early adopters.
When my wife is watching TV, I might pin the Xbox app to the wall in the living room and stream some games to that. Once Windows 10 and HoloLens are out, that should be something I can do. Or if my wife is playing a game I could also patch the TV feed through to HoloLens in the Xbox app.
And, rumours already are that this will cost "substantially more than an Xbox One". In other words, this thing won't be cheap. Which kills most of its viability as a consumer product anyway. My only hope is that they realize this, and if the FoV people described is the final size or near-final size, that they also build a second, more expensive version that improves on the FoV. As stated, I would pay more for that. Even if it means a tether.
Don't screw this up! I don't want this technology to die. It looks like just about the best new thing in a damn long time, and I'd hate to see silly decisions kill it before its time.
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