Magic Leap appoints former Microsoft exec Johnson as CEO

Magic Leap has appointed Microsoft executive Peggy Johnson as its new chief executive officer, replacing Rony Abovitz.

Johnson was previously executive vice president of business development at Microsoft. In an interview with the New York Times (NYT), she said the time was right amid the Covid-19 pandemic to explore the promise of spatial technology, comparing it with the early bubble of cellular technology and cloud computing.

"It just feels to me that it's at that same...

8 July 2020 | AR

How BP is using mixed reality – and HoloLens in particular – for its upstream operations

If you think of the oil and gas industry, then BP, as one of the seven ‘supermajors’, will feature prominently in many people’s thoughts. The company has many emerging technology initiatives in place, from artificial intelligence to blockchain, yet mixed reality – the co-existence of physical and digital worlds, utilising virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) – is among its most interesting.

For oil and gas companies – in such a particularly...

5 December 2019 | Ecosystems

Microsoft joins XR Association in ‘significant milestone’

Microsoft has joined the XR Association (XRA), joining Facebook, Google, HTC Vive, Samsung and Sony as members.

The trade association, which represents technology manufacturers across virtual, augmented and mixed reality, ‘further signifies the Association’s broadening scope and representation of the XR industry’, according to the press materials.

This is not overly surprising given Microsoft’s ambitions in the field; this publication reported on the...

22 July 2019 | AR

Microsoft launches HoloLens 2 at $3500 – but the real power is in the cloud-connected add-ons

MWC19 Microsoft has announced the launch of HoloLens 2 at MWC Barcelona, with the augmented reality (AR) headset being described by the company as an 'important milestone.'

The headset, which will be available later this year at a price of $3500,  has been launched with focus on three specific areas of improvement; immersion, comfort, and time-to-value. HoloLens 2 has a more than doubled field of view combined with holographic density of 47 pixels per degree of sight,...

24 February 2019 | AR

Microsoft launches HoloLens ‘as a service’ with education partner

Microsoft has announced the launch of HoloLens ‘as a service’, with a subscription programme being put in place alongside UK education provider JTRS.

JTRS, which is owned by Econocom, will offer what is being described as ‘mixed reality as a service’, with customers given a HoloLens package from £260 per device, per month for two years. The service includes the device, delivery, swap warranty, and collection and recycling at the end of the...

2 May 2018 | Ecosystems

Using MR to ‘see through’ patient tissue in operations

A team at Imperial College London have demonstrated how mixed reality can be used in complex reconstructive lower limb surgery.

The team used a Microoft Hololens to overlay images of CT scans showing the position of bones and key blood vessels onto an actual patient’s leg. This essentially allows the surgeon to ‘see through’ the limb while performing the procedure.

The key benefit of leveraging the technology in this way is to allow surgeons to better locate...

31 January 2018 | AR

AR app offers assistance to paramedics

Being a paramedic of an EMT is the definition of a high pressure, stressful job. Not only are you thrown into a myriad of complex situations, you also have to come up with a diagnosis of the particular patient’s problem and come up with a viable course of action. All in an environment where a wasted few seconds could make all the difference.

A new AR application for the Microsoft HoloLens is looking to ease this burden by providing paramedics with a range of diagnostic tools to...

5 January 2018 | Microsoft

AR surgery company raises £15 million in funding

London-based startup Touch Surgery has raised £15 million ($20 million) in funding for its AR surgery headsets.

The funding came from US venture capital firm 8VC, the company that invested in Oculus VR before it was later acquired by Facebook.

The headset, called Go Surgery, utilises the Microsoft HoloLens to give medical trainees a live video feed of a professional surgeon, which is overlaid with virtual guides and step by step instructions.

The latest round of...

8 November 2017 | AR

Microsoft and University of Washington bring Minority Report to reality

In case you don’t remember Minority Report, the 2002 film starring Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg, the film featured a police officers using immersive interfaces to record and manipulate crime scene data.

At the time, the idea seemed to the far future of sci-fi. But 15 years later, it looks like the technology could be with us sooner then we think.

Entered into Micorsoft’s Design Expo 2017, students from the University of Washington Interactive Design...

24 October 2017 | Microsoft

Microsoft introduces its own VR controllers

Microsoft has introduced a new set of VR controllers that will accompany mixed-reality headsets in the coming year.

The announcement, made during the Build 2017 keynote presentation, came with news that Microsoft will not be building its own headsets. Instead, the company will be looking to team up with a range of other manufacturers.

The controllers will be available for the incoming Acer headset. The Acer headset represents a technological step forward as it has built-in...

15 May 2017 | Hardware