Microsoft has officially revealed a new “moving platform” function for the HoloLens 2, which allows the augmented reality headgear to work in areas such as autos. It resolves a long-standing HoloLens issue in which shifting environments confuse the headset’s sensors. The improvement was created in partnership with Volkswagen, which has been testing the headset as a heads-up display in its vehicles.
According to Microsoft’s blog post, its augmented reality headset tracks movement by combining camera sensors with an inertial measurement unit (which typically includes accelerometers and gyroscopes). In an automobile, however, the results from these two sensors may clash; the headset detects movement but sees a static world.
That’s what Volkswagen discovered after looking at the usage of augmented reality glasses to teach drivers how to navigate a racetrack more quickly. It began working with Microsoft to solve the sensor issue in 2018, and the two eventually built a prototype system that allowed a car to display real-time information on a linked headset.
The system enables the placement of virtual items both inside and outside the vehicle. Microsoft posted an image of the HoloLens 2 projecting a virtual map onto the dashboard of a car, with navigation arrows appearing ahead at important intersections. A second image shows it warning the driver of an impending pedestrian crossing.
Volkswagen’s existing vehicles already incorporate certain augmented reality elements. Its most recent ID electric vehicles include an augmented reality heads-up display, which projects data from the car, such as current speed and navigation directions, onto the windshield, where the driver can see it without taking their eyes off the road.
Unsurprisingly, given that Microsoft is clearly targeting the $3,500 HoloLens 2 at commercial customers, there’s no indication that it will be available to consumers anytime soon. Instead, Microsoft thinks that the first beneficiaries of the new capabilities could be maritime enterprises that can connect workers with remote mechanical specialists who can identify an issue by looking through a worker’s HoloLens 2.
