Microsoft head of the new hardware department, Alex Kipman, has revealed that they are not pleased with the muffled lack of alacrity that surrounded Kinect, their previous motion tracking system launched has a precursor to HoloLens. They explained that while a developer version of HoloLens is available for purchase for companies at $3000, they are going to delay the release of HoloLens for the regular user “until the world is ready for it”.
Kinect failed as a system because Microsoft tried it incorporate it into the basic package of Xbox One. This shot up the price of the device compared to the PS4 while adding no new features that would arouse a user’s interest. Therefore, today, as every gamer would know, there are almost no games available that incorporate the Kinect into their working. It seems like a dead technology although it is an important platform on which HoloLens is based.
Understandably, because of the lack of enthusiasm from gamers even though most people were impressed by what the HoloLens did with Minecraft earlier, Microsoft probably wants to open their platform to developers in order to build functionalities that are more of use to non-gamers instead of releasing it solely for the use of a fixed sector of the potential customer base.
Kipman said that their device might be released “as soon as they say yes” but might in fact be delayed for a very long time. Two of the competitors of the Microsoft HoloLens, namely the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, are up for grabs in the next few weeks.