Microsoft HoloLens Brings Virtual Reality to the Workplace

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If we’re to believe the hype surrounding the Microsoft HoloLens, virtual reality may soon become integrated into our daily work routine.

Enabled by Windows 10, the HoloLens is a virtual reality PC headset that brings high-definition holograms to life in the real world, where they integrate with physical places, spaces, and things. According to Microsoft, here’s how HoloLens will change how we work and learn:

With the ability to design and shape holograms, you’ll have a new medium to express your creativity, a more efficient way to teach and learn, and a more effective way to visualize your work and share ideas.

This means users can create their own holograms within the company’s "HoloStudio" and 3D print the finished result. While not commercially available yet, the HoloLens sounds impressive. Sure, fancy demos are often known to mask underlying deficiencies of a product before launch (I’m looking at you video game industry) but something tells me HoloLens means business.

For one, there’s the aforementioned hype, that truly is off-the-charts positive. But there’s also the fact that augmented reality has been making positive strides for a few years now, helping different industries run simple. I wrote about two of these real world examples recently at the SAP TechEd && d-code event in Las Vegas.

With SAP AR Warehouse, the user’s Google Glass is authenticated on the back end via a temporary QR code. Once authenticated, the user/picker might get their first task of the day beamed to their glasses. The system confirms the picker’s activities and the picker must answer “yes” or “no” via voice recognition before getting their next task.

The SAP Service Technician app (see video) was just as impressive. Simple directions with detailed 3D images hover right before your eyes, making maintenance a breeze. Can’t fix something? No problem, users can “Call An Expert” (who sees exactly what you see in the glasses) to help resolve the maintenance request.

Based on the early buzz of Microsoft’s HoloLens and augmented reality apps already being used in the enterprise, is it only a matter of time before this promising technology will change the face of the workplace?