Windows 10: HoloLens 2 expands to new markets this Fall

Brink · May 22, 2020

HoloLens 2 is currently available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In these markets, industry-leading companies in manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and education are using enterprise mixed reality applications to improve the productivity and quality of work for firstline workers. As you can see in the video below, with HoloLens 2 and Azure, these organizations are simultaneously driving faster training and up-skilling of employees, decreased task and process completion time, and reduced error rates and waste driving global demand for these solutions.

Below are a few key news items that will expand our HoloLens 2 impact:

HoloLens 2 will begin shipping to Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in Q4 2020.

Online sales of HoloLens 2 will start on the Microsoft Store in July 2020.

In response to feedback from our customers and partners, we have just shipped a software update for HoloLens 2, which includes these exciting new capabilities:

Reconfigure and seamlessly set up new devices for enterprise production with Windows AutoPilot.

Enroll HoloLens with your Mobile Device Management system using a provisioning package.

Hand Tracking improvements.

Support for additional system voice commands to control HoloLens, hands-free.

Expanded USB Ethernet enables support for 5G/LTE dongles.

Review the release notes to learn about all of the new capabilities.
Click to expand...

Read more: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/bl...dly-available/

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twitter
Click to expand...

:)

Brink · May 22, 2020

Mixed Reality momentum continues and Microsoft HoloLens expands

Microsoft outlines vision for mixed reality in the modern workplace and brings HoloLens to 29 new European markets as demand for mixed reality grows.

Today, at Microsoft Future Decoded in London, over 15,000 IT and business decision makers came together to talk about current and emerging trends happening at the intersection of business and technology. I was thrilled to be there talking about our vision for mixed reality and the work we are doing to bring powerful new capabilities to the modern workplace.

We shared how technologies like Microsoft 365, Microsoft HoloLens, Windows Mixed Reality, and 3D are helping companies, Firstline Workers, and Information Workers become agents of change in the modern workplace and digital transformation.

In addition to outlining our vision for mixed reality in the modern workplace, we also announced that HoloLens is coming to 29 new markets in Europe.

Microsoft’s vision for Mixed Reality in the Modern Workplace

At Microsoft, we are on a mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. Mixed reality has the potential to help customers and businesses across the globe do things that until now, have never been possible. Mixed reality experiences will help businesses and their employees complete crucial tasks faster, safer, more efficiently, and create new ways to connect to customers and partners.

As we think about how mixed reality will change the way we work, it’s important to acknowledge that the very nature of what it means to work is changing.

Just as the agricultural revolution led to rapid increases in agricultural productivity, or the industrial revolution ushered in entirely new manufacturing processes, the digital revolution has again redefined what it means to work. “Work” is increasingly defined through human ingenuity, creative problem solving, and collaboration skills. This has created a demand for technology that will support these new ways of working.

The era of mixed reality will serve as a catalyst for innovations in the workplace and we expect Firstline Workers and Information Workers to benefit significantly from solutions that blend our physical and digital reality.

Firstline Workers are more than two billion people in roles that make them the first points of contact between a company and the world it serves. They are often the first to engage customers, the first to represent a company’s brand, and the first to see products and services in action. They form the backbone of many of the world’s largest industries, but they’ve been largely underserved by technology. Without them, the ambitions of many organizations could not be brought to life. Mixed reality is poised to help them work together, problem solve, and communicate in more immersive ways.

For Information Workers, mixed reality will enable collaboration and remote work both synchronously and asynchronously. They can interact more naturally with the digital world. With mixed reality workers can change the content, the people, or even the location of a meeting, in a matter of seconds. Mixed reality delivers interfaces that help workers act upon data generated from instrumented/intelligence devices, and connect seamlessly with others across physical space.

Here is a peek into what mixed reality in the modern workplace makes possible.

EIJM9xNg9xs

HoloLens coming to 29 new European markets

Since our launch in 2016 it has been inspiring to see how customers and partners around the world are using HoloLens to transform their business. HoloLens is being used every day to help people collaborate, communicate, create, and learn.

Here are a few of the industry leaders who are innovating with mixed reality.

Ford – who are reinventing the way they do product design by blending 3D holograms digitally with both clay models and physical production vehicles.

thyssenkrupp – who have found ways to dramatically decrease operational costs with remote assist and training.

Stryker – who has set out to improve the process for designing operating rooms for hospitals and surgery centers.

To address growing demand for mixed reality solutions around the world, we are thrilled to announce that HoloLens will be coming to 29 new markets, bringing the total number of HoloLens markets to 39.

We are also working to bring some of the most asked for software updates for HoloLens to our existing customers. We are committed to delivering an update to existing customers sometime early next year.

Here is a quick and easy way to see all the markets where HoloLens is available. You can learn more about HoloLens availability in your country here.

Innovation in the modern workplace is happening now

Work today has evolved from execution of routine tasks to creative problem solving. The workplace is also changing in dramatic and fundamental ways. From open and integrated physical and digital workspaces, to personalized experiences that flow across devices, teams are more mobile and globally-distributed than ever.

I am passionate about mixed reality in the modern workplace and how it helps real people solve real problems with real solutions. Some of the ways Firstline and Information Workers are using mixed reality to improve how they get work done include:

Remote Assist – Collaborating with a remote expert to accomplish real tasks, in real spaces, in real-time.

Training – Creating customized first-person perspective training manuals and step-by-step instructions on new products, processes, and equipment.

Design – Being able to plan and layout space, collaborate with others, and walk through designs in the real world without costly physical build outs.

3D in Office – Collaborating with easy 3D content integration. This is the same 3D content that we will see bridge from PC screens to full mixed reality experiences.

Mixed Reality Meetings – Team members are looking to be able to join others in real-time or asynchronously, bring in 2D and 3D content, with flexibility to change the location at any time.

Mixed Reality Data & Analytics – Information workers are gaining access to content in a heads-up, hands-free way, that is contextually and spatially relevant.

We have also worked to ensure that our mixed reality solutions meet important environmental and safety standards.

HoloLens passes basic impact tests for protective eyewear standards in North America and Europe. It has been tested and found to conform to the basic impact protection requirements of ANSI Z87.1, CSA Z94.3 and EN 166, the most common protective glass certification standards.

HoloLens has been tested and rated IP50, able to perform as dust protected, a very important scenario for many Firstline Workers.

And for head protection, we’re happy to announce a HoloLens hard hat accessory is in production and will be available for purchase early next year.

Our customers love existing Skype functionality on HoloLens; however, there are a couple of improvements they’ve been asking for. I’m excited to share that in first quarter of next year we are shipping an additional holographic remote instruction capability built on Microsoft Teams and Azure Active Directory. Our customers will now be able to work more seamlessly within their existing IT infrastructure.

Join the Era of Mixed Reality

There is so much opportunity in front of us and so many ways to join us on our mixed reality journey.

The Commercial Suite and the Development Edition for HoloLens can be purchased online through the Microsoft Store. Check the online store in your region.

With 3D in Windows 10, everyone can experience and create amazing things in a new dimension. With PC or tablet running the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have the most complete collection of 3D tools and resources available.

For developers looking to build immersive experiences for Windows Mixed Reality and HoloLens, we have numerous developer resources available.

If you are looking for someone to help you develop mixed reality solutions, check out the Mixed Reality Partner Program. This is an integrated program focused on enabling and supporting digital agencies, systems integrators, and solution providers who are committed to helping others build in mixed reality.

To everyone who has been with us on our journey to date, thank you! For those of you joining now, we can’t wait to meet you. We are looking forward to what comes next.

Talk soon,

Lorraine
Click to expand...

Source: Mixed Reality momentum continues in the Modern Workplace and Microsoft HoloLens expands to 29 new markets - Microsoft Devices Blog

Brink · May 22, 2020

Introducing Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2

In addition to supporting the deployment and management of Windows 10 devices like laptops, tablets, and desktops, we are taking Windows Autopilot to uncharted territory by introducing the private preview of Windows Autopilot deployment for HoloLens 2!

Since Windows Autopilot was first introduced with Windows 10, version 1703, it has come a long way to enable organizations to deploy and manage their Windows 10 devices in significant less time and at noticeable cost savings. At its core, Windows Autopilot is a set of cloud technologies that offers greater efficiency and automation over traditional deployment and setup experiences.

As a critical component of Microsoft Endpoint Manager and our commitment to empowering IT, Windows Autopilot is designed to meet you where you are in your journey to simplified endpoint management and help you get where you want to be. We started with deployment scenarios for Azure AD then, in response to your feedback, Hybrid AD Join. In the spirit of innovation, we are working to support a broader range of devices with Windows Autopilot, starting with HoloLens 2.

Introducing Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2

Microsoft HoloLens 2 is an untethered holographic computer with apps and solutions that help people across organizations learn, work, communicate, and collaborate more effectively using mixed reality. HoloLens 2 devices are commercial-ready with support for Azure AD, mobile device management (MDM), kiosk mode, always-on BitLocker, Windows Update for Business, and Microsoft Store for Business.

As adoption of HoloLens 2 is increasing, medical and educational institutions have found that deploying these devices at scale is challenging, time-consuming, and costly. Imagine an IT admin putting a HoloLens 2 device, calibrating the device, then moving through all the decision-making steps, such as user id and password, to join the device to their tenant. Now repeat this process for every device they need to deploy in their organization.

Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 with Microsoft Endpoint Manager solves this problem and delivers on the same promise of efficiency, simplified deployment, and streamlined device security and endpoint management as other Windows Autopilot deployment scenarios, driving significant cost and time savings for your organization.

How Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 works

With the current private preview, Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 support self-deploying mode with Azure AD only. That means the deployment process looks like this:

Join the device to Azure AD.

Enroll in Microsoft Endpoint Manager/Microsoft Intune (or another MDM service), leveraging Azure AD for automatic MDM enrollment to begin downloading all device targeted policies, user targeted applications, certificates, and networking profiles.

Land a shared device login state for the user with zero interaction.

Here is an illustration of Windows Autopilot self-deployment for HoloLens 2 devices:

The deployment scenarios currently supported with the private preview of Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 are as follows:

Azure AD join

Self-deployment mode

MDM enrollment with polices, certificates, kiosk mode, etc. applied during deployment

Device name setup before Azure AD join

Preset keyboard language from list of HoloLens 2 supported languages

Windows Autopilot can be used with HoloLens 2 devices with Windows 10 build 19041.1002.200107-0909 or later, and an internet connection.

Registering a HoloLens 2 device with Windows Autopilot

In the coming months, HoloLens 2 devices will be shipped as "Windows Autopilot ready" and have a Windows product key ID (PKID) barcode printed on the outside of the box. This PKID will simplify Windows Autopilot device registration by allowing distributors and resellers to register HoloLens 2 devices with their customers' tenants without powering on the actual devices. To learn more about how this process works, see adding devices to Windows Autopilot.

HoloLens 2 hardware ID collection for Windows Autopilot

We have also simplified the process of collecting the hardware ID (also referred to as hardware hash) and diagnostic logs for HoloLens 2 devices. There is no need to run a PowerShell script to collect the hardware ID or diagnostic logs during setup. With HoloLens 2 devices, you can simply collect logs and hardware IDs by following these simple steps:

While the HoloLens 2 device is powered on, press and release the Power and Volume down buttons together to trigger the hardware ID and diagnostic log collection process.

Connect the HoloLens 2 device to a PC using a USB cable so that it shows up in File Explorer.

Browse to Internal Storage > Documents and extract AutopilotDiagnostics.zip. This file/folder will contain a CSV file with a a file name that begins “DeviceHash…”.

Getting started with the private preview of Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2

If you are interested in joining the private preview, here is the process:

Make sure your organization meets all requirements for Windows Autopilot and self-deploying mode, which include networking, licensing, and configuration requirements.

Enroll in the Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 private preview program by visiting Microsoft Forms, or scanning this QR code:

We will send you confirmation when your tenant is accepted into the program.

Follow the instructions documented in this Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 evaluation guide. If your organization is using Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Windows Autopilot, most steps will not be new to you, but this guide will take you the process step by step.

We look forward to hearing your feedback on the Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 private preview and thank you in advance for your interest and participation!
Click to expand...

Source: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/...2/ba-p/1371494

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twitter
Click to expand...

Brink · May 22, 2020

Microsoft announces HoloLens 2 at MWC19

This evening at a press event to kickoff MWC Barcelona, I had the pleasure of joining CEO Satya Nadella and Technical Fellow Alex Kipman onstage to talk in depth about Microsoft’s worldview for the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge.

As part of today’s press event, we also introduced the world to HoloLens 2.

eqFqtAJMtYE

This is a tremendously exciting time for Microsoft, our partners, our customers, the computing industry and indeed the world. The virtually limitless computing power and capability of the cloud combined with increasingly intelligent and perceptive edge devices embedded throughout the physical world create experiences we could only imagine a few short years ago.

When intelligent cloud and intelligent edge experiences are infused with mixed reality, we have a framework for achieving amazing things and empowering even more people.
Today represents an important milestone for Microsoft. This moment captures the very best efforts and passion of numerous teams spanning Azure, HoloLens, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Devices — this truly is a moment where the sum is greater than the parts. From cutting-edge hardware design to mixed reality-infused cloud services, today’s announcements represent the collective work of many teams. And none of this would be possible without our passionate community of customers, partners and developers.

On behalf of everyone on the team, it is my privilege to introduce you to HoloLens 2 and all the announcements we made today to kick off MWC Barcelona.

Introducing HoloLens 2

Since the release of HoloLens in 2016 we have seen mixed reality transform the way work gets done. We have unlocked super-powers for hundreds of thousands of people who go to work every day. From construction sites to factory floors, from operating rooms to classrooms, HoloLens is changing how we work, learn, communicate and get things done.

We are entering a new era of computing, one in which the digital world goes beyond two-dimensional screens and enters the three-dimensional world. This new collaborative computing era will empower us all to achieve more, break boundaries and work together with greater ease and immediacy in 3D.

Today, we are proud to introduce the world to Microsoft HoloLens 2.

Our customers asked us to focus on three key areas to make HoloLens even better. They wanted HoloLens 2 to be even more immersive and more comfortable, and to accelerate the time-to-value.

Immersion is greatly enhanced by advancements across the board, including in the visual display system, making holograms even more vibrant and realistic. We have more than doubled the field of view in HoloLens 2, while maintaining the industry-leading holographic density of 47 pixels per degree of sight. HoloLens 2 contains a new display system that enables us to achieve these significant advances in performance at low power. We have also completely refreshed the way you interact with holograms in HoloLens 2. Taking advantage of our new time-of-flight depth sensor, combined with built-in AI and semantic understanding, HoloLens 2 enables direct manipulation of holograms with the same instinctual gestures you use to interact with physical objects in the real world. In addition to the improvements in the display engine and direct manipulation of holograms, HoloLens 2 contains eye-tracking sensors that make interacting with holograms even more natural. You can log in with Windows Hello enterprise-grade authentication through iris recognition, making it easy for multiple people to quickly and securely share the device.

Comfort is enhanced by a more balanced center of gravity, the use of light carbon-fiber material and a new mechanism for donning the device without readjusting. We’ve improved the thermal management with new vapor chamber technology and accounted for the wide physiological variability in the size and shape of human heads by designing HoloLens 2 to comfortably adjust and fit almost anyone. The new dial-in fit system makes it comfortable to wear for hours on end, and you can keep your glasses on because HoloLens 2 adapts to you by sliding right over them. When it’s time to step out of mixed reality, flip the visor up and switch tasks in seconds. Together, these enhancements have more than tripled the measured comfort and ergonomics of the device.

Time-to-value is accelerated by Microsoft mixed reality applications like Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Dynamics 365 Layout and the new Dynamics 365 Guides applications. In addition to the in-box value, our ecosystem of mixed reality partners provides a broad range of offerings built on HoloLens that deliver value across a range of industries and use cases. This partner ecosystem is being supplemented by a new wave of mixed reality entrepreneurs who are realizing the potential of devices like HoloLens 2 and the Azure services that give them the spatial, speech and vision intelligence needed for mixed reality, plus battle-tested cloud services for storage, security and application insights.

Building on the unique capabilities of the original HoloLens, HoloLens 2 is the ultimate intelligent edge device. And when coupled with existing and new Azure services, HoloLens 2 becomes even more capable, right out of the box.

HoloLens 2 will be available this year at a price of $3,500. Bundles including Dynamics 365 Remote Assist start at $125/month. HoloLens 2 will be initially available in the United States, Japan, China, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand. Customers can preorder HoloLens 2 starting today at HoloLens 2—Pricing and Options | Microsoft HoloLens.

In addition to HoloLens 2, we were also excited to make the following announcements at MWC Barcelona.

Azure Kinect Developer Kit (DK)

The Azure Kinect DK is a developer kit that combines our industry-leading AI sensors in a single device. At its core is the time-of-flight depth sensor we developed for HoloLens 2, high-def RGB camera and a 7-microphone circular array that will enable development of advanced computer vision and speech solutions with Azure. It enables solutions that don’t just sense but understand the world — people, places, things around it. A good example of such a solution in the healthcare space is Ocuvera, which is using this technology to prevent patients from falling in hospitals. Every year in the U.S. alone, over 1 million hospital patients fall each year, and 11,000 of those falls are fatal. With Azure Kinect, the environmental precursors to a fall can be determined and a nurse notified to get to patients before they fall. Initially available in the U.S. and China, the Azure Kinect DK is available for preorder today at $399. Visit Azure.com/Kinect for more info.

Dynamics 365 Guides

When we announced Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Dynamics 365 Layout on October 1, we talked about them as the “first” of our mixed reality applications for HoloLens.

Today, we are proud to announce our latest offering: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides.

Dynamics 365 Guides is a new mixed reality app that empowers employees to learn by doing. Guides enhances learning with step-by-step instructions that guide employees to the tools and parts they need and how to use them in real work situations. In addition to the experience of using Guides on HoloLens, a Guides PC app makes it easy to create interactive content, attach photos and videos, import 3D models and customize training to turn institutional knowledge into a repeatable learning tool.

This application will help minimize downtime and increase efficiency for mission-critical equipment and processes and becomes the third Dynamics 365 application that will work on both the previous generation of HoloLens and the new HoloLens 2.

Dynamics 365 Guides is available in preview starting today.

Azure Mixed Reality Services

Today we also announced two new Azure mixed reality services. These services are designed to help every developer and every business build cross-platform, contextual and enterprise-grade mixed reality applications.

Azure Spatial Anchors enables businesses and developers to create mixed reality apps that map, designate and recall precise points of interest that are accessible across HoloLens, iOS and Android devices. These precise points of interest enable a range of scenarios, from shared mixed reality experiences to wayfinding across connected places. We’re already seeing this service help our customers work and learn with greater speed and ease in manufacturing, architecture, medical education and more.

Azure Remote Rendering helps people experience 3D without compromise to fuel better, faster decisions. Today, to interact with high-quality 3D models on mobile devices and mixed reality headsets, you often need to “decimate,” or simplify, 3D models to run on target hardware. But in scenarios like design reviews and medical planning, every detail matters, and simplifying assets can result in a loss of important detail that is needed for key decisions. This service will render high-quality 3D content in the cloud and stream it to edge devices, all in real time, with every detail intact.

Azure Spatial Anchors is in public preview as of today. Azure Remote Rendering is now in private preview in advance of its public preview.

Microsoft HoloLens Customization Program

HoloLens is being used in a variety of challenging environments, from construction sites and operating rooms to the International Space Station. HoloLens has passed the basic impact tests from several protective eyewear standards used in North America and Europe. It has been tested and found to conform to the basic impact protection requirements of ANSI Z87.1, CSA Z94.3 and EN 166. With HoloLens 2 we’re introducing the Microsoft HoloLens Customization Program to enable customers and partners to customize HoloLens 2 to fit their environmental needs.

The first to take advantage of the HoloLens Customization Program is our long-standing HoloLens partner Trimble, which last year announced Trimble Connect for HoloLens along with a new hard hat solution that improves the utility of mixed reality for practical field applications. Today it announced the Trimble XR10 with Microsoft HoloLens 2, a new wearable hard hat device that enables workers in safety-controlled environments to access holographic information on the worksite.

Open principles

Finally, as we closed things out, Alex Kipman articulated a set of principles around our open approach with the mixed reality ecosystem.

We believe that for an ecosystem to truly thrive there should be no barriers to innovation or customer choice.

To that end, Alex described how HoloLens embraces the principles of open stores, open browsers and open developer platforms.

To illustrate our dedication to these principles, we announced that our friends at Mozilla are bringing a prototype of the Firefox Reality browser to HoloLens 2, demonstrating our commitment to openness and the immersive web. Alex was also joined by Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, who announced that Unreal Engine 4 support is coming to HoloLens.

In the coming months we will have more announcements and details to share. We look forward to continuing this journey with you all.

Julia
Click to expand...

Source: Microsoft at MWC Barcelona: Introducing Microsoft HoloLens 2 - The Official Microsoft Blog

See also:

HoloLens 2 gives Microsoft the edge in next generation of computing

Microsoft at Mobile World Congress 2019 - Windows 10 Forums

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twiiter

Windows 10: HoloLens 2 expands to new markets this Fall

HoloLens 2 expands to new markets this Fall

HoloLens 2 expands to new markets this Fall

HoloLens 2 expands to new markets this Fall

HoloLens 2 expands to new markets this Fall - Similar Threads - HoloLens expands markets

Open custom ports on HoloLens 2

Open custom ports on HoloLens 2

Hololens 2 failed to cast screen

Hololens 2 failed to cast screen

Introducing the new Microsoft Edge for HoloLens 2 Insiders

Introducing Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2

Microsoft announces HoloLens 2 at MWC19

Mixed Reality momentum continues and Microsoft HoloLens expands

Microsoft HoloLens Agency Readiness Partner Program expands to Europe