Microsoft uses TED conference to show off new HoloLens demos, including real-time chat

By John Callaham
last updated

Microsoft continues to offer new demonstrations of its upcoming HoloLens augmented reality headset. The latest such demo was made today during the TED conference in Vancouver.

Update: A bootleg video of the talk has appeared online and is reposted below

According to Re/code:

"In a talk at the TED conference in Vancouver, HoloLens creator Alex Kipman took attendees inside the experience by placing a camera with a fish-eye lens inside a prototype device. In doing so, Kipman showed rain landing on the stage and flowers blossoming, as well as voyages to Mars and the moon. Going a step further, Kipman also held a holographic video chat with a NASA scientist who was calling from a HoloLens across the street. The two appeared side by side, with an overlay of the surface of Mars at their feet."

The video showing those new demo should be posted sometime next week. Microsoft is scheduled to start selling the first HoloLens developer units sometime in the first quarter of 2016, for the price of $3,000 each.

Source: Re/code

28 Comments
  • Looking forward to this Ted Talk.
  • I wonder how much Alex Kipman makes per year. He invented Kinect and HoloLens. That's some impressive stuff. I wish he convinced Microsoft, particularly the Xbox team, to support Kinect more, though.
  • Well they did bundle it with Xbox One originally and people didn't want it for whatever reason.  Sales went up after they introduced the console-only version.  I for one LOVE my Kinect! 
  • It's not that people didn't want Kinect. They released the Xbox One with no compelling Kinect content. Kinect Sports was crap compared to the first version(s). Dance Central came out about a year later, etc... If Kinect was so important that it had to be bundled then they should have had games available.
  • I agree with you on this. The issues that plagued Kinect are the same ones that will plague vr. It is specialist hardware for enthusiasts. The games currently on Kinect are good but there was not enough available at launch to make this enthusiast hardware appealing to non enthusiasts.
  • Users were unwilling to absorb the cost into a new Xbox one purchase. Maybe if out was sold as an add-on with Kinect games bundles it might have taken off more. It's a catch 22. You need the devices out there for the developers to be attracted to an install base and get creative for. But users need compelling reasons besides just games to invest in this new input device and use be it money, time, space or anything else.
  • This is cool stuff! Looking guards to the video
  • There's a video above....although it's terrible picture quality.
  • Screw u nadella, screw you too evan spiegel, also screw you Google
  • Having a bad day, eh?
  • Great guy!
  • He's a great presenter... and he's so spacey... almost like he's from the future... lol I also love how every time he comes on the stage there's an unexpected surprise lol
  • Raiditem.com have Cheap Blade and Soul Gold. We just offer the lowest price for Blade & Soul Gold and the best service. Nowhere else can you find such a great sale! Join us and get your cheap Blade and Soul Gold. Keep an eye on our special sale everyday! 
  • BLADE? as in the organization/government in Xenoblade Chronicles X? Soul as in Soul Voices from that game? Gold?! I believe you mean miranium!
  • That's a spam, though...
  • Wow that real-time chat looks incredible!  One step even closer to their vision videos!
  • But how did we see the entire body? I know what I saw, it is awesome. I just want to know how.
  • hololens will be the future for sure
  • Awesome
  • Holograms use in Xbox one console I love it
  • Holograms in 3D environment
  • What's the TED
  • It is a platform for people to go on stage to spread their ideas, stories, research, invention, philosophy... basically anything. It is a very interesting site to find various knowledge in vast kind of field.
  • This Hololens talk makes me wish I had the money. Could you save it for another day please?
  • Woah, woah, woah. You're saying that with Hololens I can have a conversation with someone who isn't in the room with me? Wow, that's the future!
  • I follow a ton of Apple-Loving astronomers on Twitter, and not one person has even acknowledged that this product exists.... But if Apple created it... You'd never hear the end of it. Such a shame.
  • It would be cool to hangout with friends while watching games no matter how distant they are. Also u don't need hololens, with a set of specific cameras and lights u can project a distant person in 3D in your conference room. Jimmy Kimmel does it once a year on show being projected to another place. For the audience it looks as if he is really there.
  • video not available now