A bit of an unknown from Microsoft has been HoloLens, their sort of virtual reality solution for Xbox and Windows 10.
Some of the questions have been answered since their presentation Monday morning which showed off some of the peripherals gaming prowess.
Looking at an ordinary table, with Minority Report-like gestures and hand control, the player can interact with a virtual world such as Minecraft, the experience shown for this purpose.
Swiping in mid-air, along with pinching and other hand-based gestures, moves around the game world and lets players interact with it in a way that is much more intuitive than a mouse and keyboard ever could be.
There is also some awesome eye-tracking technology going on here, as the player was able to send down a lightning strike on a specific part of the game world just by looking at that specific area of the map. That’s some pretty crazy tech, right there.
There were some questions raised about the whole experience, such as how much is this going to cost? And since the entire thing is head-mounted and wireless, what is the battery life like? How much does the thing weigh?
Regardless of the answers, HoloLens is currently our favourite VR technology because it takes the virtual reality concept and adds the option to make it much more user-friendly by applying the holographic layer on top of the user’s current physical space. It could also become a full VR experience by blanketing everything in 3D graphics, removing the user from the physical world in its entirety.
The version of Minecraft shown off on stage was built specifically for HoloLens, and while it is Minecraft through and through, no additional details were given about the game or the technology behind it.
No release date or pricing has been announced for HoloLens at this time. While we used to look at the platform as a proof of concept more than something that could be a viable product, a demo at their media briefing practically ensures HoloLens will be released to the wild at some point.
Stay tuned for much more from Microsoft and Mojang at E3 as we bring you all the latest holographic goodness from Los Angeles!