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I agree that Microsoft would have push well beyond the established best of AR technology in order to darken things in the hololens, but I can't tell what's like

by wcarss 11y ago

I agree that Microsoft would have push well beyond the established best of AR technology in order to darken things in the hololens, but I can't tell what's likelier: that they're totally lying in their demonstrations, or that they have kept some bit of truly state-of-the-art-advancing innovation a secret. It would be very easy to lie, but it is also difficult to believe that Microsoft would bet so hard on selling this product as revolutionary when it provides a fundamentally weak experience. So Animats, is there something concrete that you're basing this claim off of, or just a general knowledge of AR technology and its limitations? I genuinely want to know--I've spent a lot of time wondering about this, and I've seen good points on both sides. For anyone curious, Abrash does a great job of explaining why darkening is so hard here[1] and this reddit-speculator[2] does a great job of highlighting some incidents where hands-on hololens reviewers specifically noted "dark projection" during their user tests. I've heard that the field of view is smaller than videos make it appear, and also that the image it displays is not fully opaque, but nothing that suggests that they can't darken. If it turns out they can, it would be a pretty big deal, and if it turns out they can't, hololens may be a dud. [1] - http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/why-you-wont-see-hard-ar-anytime-soon/ http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/why-you-wont-see-hard-... (3.5 years old) [2] - https://www.reddit.com/r/HoloLens/comments/30koy9/hololens_and_the_projection_of_darkness/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HoloLens/comments/30koy9/hololens_a... (7 months ago)

Animats 11y ago
Reviews [1][2] indicate that 1) Microsoft won't let reviewers take a picture of what the device really shows, and 2) the demos seen by the reviewers aren't nearly as good as Microsoft's videos. Microsoft has made progress in getting the weight down, and the tracking is apparently good enough. [1] http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/wearables/microsoft-hololens-1281834/review http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/wearables/microsoft-holo... [2] http://www.digitaltrends.com/vr-headset-reviews/microsoft-hololens-hands-on/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/vr-headset-reviews/microsoft-ho...
- wcarss 11y ago
  Hm, I may have been unclear -- I didn't mean to question your claim that Microsoft is not showing us real pictures/video, as they clearly are not. I was (and am) curious about the ability to display darkness, which you specifically claimed the hololens cannot do, and it sounded as though you knew so for sure. Every indication from hands-on demos is that it can actually display black, which is surprising and impressive, but no one I've seen has _explicitly_ said so, so it may still turn out to lack that ability. I'd love to find out :) The primary difference that seems to be reported between videos and demos is (as told in your links and mine) that the field of view is extremely limited, which is understandable, but does make the videos misleading. Anyway, thanks for the links!
  - AndrewKemendo 11y ago
    Every indication from hands-on demos is that it can actually display black, which is surprising and impressive, but no one I've seen has _explicitly_ said so, so it may still turn out to lack that ability. I'd love to find out :) When our team tried it, it looked like it displayed a very dark grey - if not necessarily black.

by wcarss 11y ago

Animats 11y ago

Reviews [1][2] indicate that 1) Microsoft won't let reviewers take a picture of what the device really shows, and 2) the demos seen by the reviewers aren't nearly as good as Microsoft's videos. Microsoft has made progress in getting the weight down, and the tracking is apparently good enough. [1] http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/wearables/microsoft-hololens-1281834/review http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/wearables/microsoft-holo... [2] http://www.digitaltrends.com/vr-headset-reviews/microsoft-hololens-hands-on/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/vr-headset-reviews/microsoft-ho...

wcarss 11y ago
Hm, I may have been unclear -- I didn't mean to question your claim that Microsoft is not showing us real pictures/video, as they clearly are not. I was (and am) curious about the ability to display darkness, which you specifically claimed the hololens cannot do, and it sounded as though you knew so for sure. Every indication from hands-on demos is that it can actually display black, which is surprising and impressive, but no one I've seen has _explicitly_ said so, so it may still turn out to lack that ability. I'd love to find out :) The primary difference that seems to be reported between videos and demos is (as told in your links and mine) that the field of view is extremely limited, which is understandable, but does make the videos misleading. Anyway, thanks for the links!
- AndrewKemendo 11y ago
  Every indication from hands-on demos is that it can actually display black, which is surprising and impressive, but no one I've seen has _explicitly_ said so, so it may still turn out to lack that ability. I'd love to find out :) When our team tried it, it looked like it displayed a very dark grey - if not necessarily black.