Microsoft Launches HoloLens 2 for Enterprise Customers
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Microsoft today announced that its latest AR headset, HoloLens 2, is finally shipping. The headset can be purchased directly for $3,500 or rented for $125 per month.
Microsoft announced HoloLens 2 back in February and has started selling the headset today. Though pricey at $3,500, HoloLens 2 is actually cheaper than its predecessor which launched at $5,000. In addition to the outright purchase price, Microsoft is also renting headset to businesses for $125 per month, and will later launch a developer edition priced at $100 per month.
Like the original, HoloLens 2 is positioned as an enterprise-focused device. Microsoft envisions companies using the headset for design, remote assistance, training, visualization, collaboration, architecture, construction, and much more.
HoloLens 2 Specs
The official specs confirm the headset’s weight at 566 grams and ‘active use’ battery life at 2–3 hours. Here’s the full spec sheet:
Display | |
|---|---|
| Optics | See-through holographic lenses (waveguides) |
| Resolution | 2k 3:2 light engines |
| Holographic density | >2.5k radiants (light points per radian) |
| Eye-based rendering | Display optimization for 3D eye position |
Sensors | |
|---|---|
| Head tracking | 4 visible light cameras |
| Eye tracking | 2 IR cameras |
| Depth | 1-MP time-of-flight (ToF) depth sensor |
| IMU | Accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer |
| Camera | 8-MP stills, 1080p30 video |
Audio and speech | |
|---|---|
| Microphone array | 5 channels |
| Speakers | Built-in spatial sound |
Human understanding | |
|---|---|
| Hand tracking | Two-handed fully articulated model, direct manipulation |
| Eye tracking | Real-time tracking |
| Voice | Command and control on-device; natural language with internet connectivity |
| Windows Hello | Enterprise-grade security with iris recognition |
Environment understanding | |
|---|---|
| 6DoF tracking | World-scale positional tracking |
| Spatial Mapping | Real-time environment mesh |
| Mixed Reality Capture | Mixed hologram and physical environment photos and videos |
Compute and connectivity | |
|---|---|
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Compute Platform |
| HPU | Second-generation custom-built holographic processing unit |
| Memory | 4-GB LPDDR4x system DRAM |
| Storage | 64-GB UFS 2.1 |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac 2×2) |
| Bluetooth | 5 |
| USB | USB Type-C |
Fit | |
|---|---|
| Single size | |
| Fits over glasses | |
| Weight | 566g |
Aside from field of view and resolution improvements, HoloLens 2 also launches out of the gate with full hand-tracking. This is a huge improvement over the ‘air tap’ gesture that was relied upon with the original headset. With hand-tracking users will be able to more naturally and directly interact with augmented reality content.
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