With the Microsoft HoloLens, an augmented reality headset, the Redmond-based firm is trying to get developers excited about its potential as early as possible, opening a HoloLens experience section in the company’s new 5th Avenue retail store in Manhattan.
The HoloLens isn’t the same as virtual reality platforms like Oculus or the Samsung Gear VR. Instead, the HoloLens projects virtual images over your real environment, which is more akin to an augmented reality experience.
It’s easy to imagine HoloLens’ potential in the gaming sector, but there are other uses cases in a variety of verticals that could prove entertaining and/or efficient.
But the only way to get any real traction for a new piece of hardware is to get developers building amazing applications for the platform. Microsoft learned that lesson the hard way as it struggled to get developers to build for the Windows Platform.
Microsoft has opened up a portal to let developers check out the $3,000 hardware ahead of the Q1 2016 Developer Edition ship date, but folks interested in seeing the hardware are asked to sign up for an appointment before dropping by.
