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Back in January, there was one announcement from Microsoft that caught the eyes of the world: HoloLens. This revolutionary technology promises to change the ways in which we interact with the physical world around us in a myriad of different ways, not limited to NASA and artistic design.
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Today, at Build 2015, Microsoft went one step further, showing how through working with different partners, still more situations in which Hololens has been of enormous use in many different professions. So far, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, Unity, NASA, JPL, Trimble, audiokinetic, AUTODESK, Legendary, The Walt Disney Company, Dassault Systemes, and Sketchfab are all working on different implementations.
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The first partner shown was Trimble, an architectural firm. Traditionally, being an architect has required a very strong sense of spatial awareness, spurred by the simple reality of imagining 3D structures and shapes, but then having to convert them into a 2D space. With HoloLens, this is no longer necessary, as making adjustments to models and working with complex visualizations becomes mere child’s play by comparison. The potential of the technology to help this industry is quite remarkable.
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This is equally true with the second use case shown, medical research, and study. As anyone who has studied medicine knows, there are two ways to gain an intimate knowledge of the whole human body: books and cadavers, neither of which is ideal. With HoloLens, however, whole scans of the body can be analyzed by students and researchers in breathtaking detail, providing a remarkable means by which to gain knowledge with only a minimal outlay of resources, creating a situation quite unlike anything that has come before it.
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The potential of the HoloLens is a moot point, however, that Microsoft has managed to attract so many partners from so many different industries is a testament to its power. What most excites you about HoloLens? Let us know in the comments below.
\n\nFurther reading: Build 2015, HoloLens, Microsoft