Time Magazine has a habit of picking the top 10 of all sorts of things each year, and, of course, that includes our favorite topic, technology. There are no prizes involved except bragging rights and some free publicity, but of course for companies that specialize in making innovative and effective products, those are enough incentive. This year, Time picked Microsoft’s HoloLens as the number one gadget of 2015.
Introduced at this year’s Build event, HoloLens has been a hot topic among Microsoft fans and technology enthusiasts in general. Taking the concept of augmented reality to another level, and promising real commercial applications, HoloLens has demonstrated Microsoft’s commitment to putting productivity front and center–no matter how innovative they have to be.
HoloLens also extends Microsoft’s Windows 10 platform into areas that nobody else can approach. From engineering to education to sales to medicine, HoloLens ensures that Windows 10 will be a dominant force not just on the billions of 2D screens in use today and into the future, but also in the virtual world as well. Even Microsoft’s Minecraft gaming environment can benefit from HoloLens.
It’s no real surprise that Time chose HoloLens as the #1 gadget of 2015. There’s simply no technology that has the potential to impact our lives in such a very real way, and here’s Time’s take:
While much of the technology world is gaga over virtual reality, Microsoft is making a big bet in a similar-sounding but very different direction: Mixed reality. Wear the HoloLens, and holographic images will suddenly appear around your physical environment. The headset is potentially useful for professionals from surgeons to space astronauts.
We agree with their assessment, of course, and while HoloLens is a long-term proposition, it’s already starting to spur research into new areas. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the technology as it continues to progress towards commercial reality, and in the meantime kudos to Time for picking one of our favorite gadgets as the most important of the year.
