HTC Vive is currently compatible with Windows 10, but Microsoft debuted a different vision of life in “mixed reality” at COMPUTEX TAIPEI earlier this week. Windows Holographic is Microsoft’s new operating system to blend virtual-reality devices like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift with the Microsoft HoloLens.
Virtual reality differs from augmented reality in that it does not incorporate the natural reality that we process with our eyes and brains every day. Windows Holographic is more than a new type of OS—it is a call to developers to consider the possibility of incorporating mixed-reality features into virtual-reality headsets.
For example, Windows Holographic can be used by a virtual-reality headset manufacturer to incorporate a virtual start menu, such as Xbox Live services, and the user interface that is available on Microsoft’s augmented-reality headset, the HoloLens.
Although the company was spotty on the details of exactly how virtual-reality headsets would incorporate the Windows Holographic OS, they did let the audience know that they are working with companies such as Intel, AMD, Acer, Dell, Qualcomm, HP, Lenovo and a few others. It’s important to note that they did not say that any additional hardware would be required to incorporate Windows Holographic, but they did demonstrate the concept at COMPUTEX TAIPEI.
As usual, Windows is trying to standardize a new platform’s OS like they famously did for PCs with Windows 95. The benefit of course being that if Microsoft can get commitments from virtual-reality and augmented-reality headset and hardware makers, they will gain a foothold in this new medium for selling and positioning apps and content as the technology continues to gain ground in industrial and consumer sectors.
Microsoft demonstrated an HTC Vive working with Windows Holographic on stage, but there are strong indications that by working with original equipment manufacturers who have different visions and form factors for virtual reality, Microsoft will create the best version of a standardized Windows Holographic that is compatible with the majority of new virtual-reality hardware. It’s a smart strategy for keeping a finger in every virtual-reality hardware pie. Microsoft is essentially using the HoloLens and HTC Vive in tandem to demonstrate this possibility and have everyone at the show imagine Windows Holographic running on every virtual-reality and augmented-reality headset they’ve seen so far.
The benefit to hardware manufacturers will be that they do not have to create a proprietary software OS to run on their new virtual-reality and augmented-reality devices. If this follows the pattern of personal PCs, then manufacturers will be able to narrow their focus to creating the best hardware and, theoretically, advancing the technology further and faster.
But if you’ve been keeping tabs on Microsoft’s ecosystem projects, you’ll know that platforms such as the Windows Store have basically been disastrous. I think everyone is also envisioning a virtual-reality experience that stops in the middle of a program for a mandatory update that lasts too long to be anything other than extremely annoying.