HoloLens

Windows 10

The HoloLens looks to be a case of "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY", if it works as advertised. This is exactly what I wanted Google Glass to be, I'd love to fill my house with Blender creations... however, I'm less sure of its mass-market appeal. For some unfathomable reason, people thought that the much more stylish Glass made them look silly, but had no problem with people using hands-free phone kits while walking down the street. Looking like you're a crazy person ? No problem. Wearing unusual spectacles ? Ridiculous.

I don't get it. But if people don't like wearing even slightly odd specs, it's hard to believe the headset will catch on as a mainstream alternative to giant TV screens. For another thing, screens are easier to share. Custom graphics and gaming aside, it's hard to see why I'd want to wear a bulky headset to overlay the internet on the world when I could just consult my phone. It seems very cool and all, but is it useful ?

It would certainly be handy in the workplace though, where having virtual screens would be infinitely easier than trying to organise large amounts of contents in different desktops. At home it looks like a fun toy. A really frickin' cool toy, but still a toy.  Now of course, when it gets to the stage of being no bigger than regular glasses that you can wear all the time, that's another matter entirely.


I'm even less sure about Cortana. I suppose there are some situations where hands-free is good (a smart house seems like an obvious one), but mainly talking out loud to a computer is undesirable. The example of "Do I need to bring a coat ?" followed by a straightforward answer via checking the forecast is impressive, but is this just a pre-programmed routine, or is it able to figure out what the question really means ?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30924022