Microsoft discontinues the HoloLens

It has been a decade since Microsoft first announced the HoloLens, the company's first attempt at an Augmented Reality headset. While Microsoft was quicker to market than the likes of Apple and Google, development died down after the launch of the HoloLens 2. Now, Microsoft is ditching plans for the headset. 

Production on the HoloLens 2 has come to an end, Microsoft confirmed to UploadVR. The headset first launched in 2019 and due to shifting priorities within the company, a HoloLens 3 never entered production. This could have been caused, in part, by internal protests within Microsoft after the company took on a contract with the US military, turning what was once supposed to be a fun AR device for entertainment experiences into a tool for war.

While Microsoft is no longer working on the HoloLens for consumers, it is still “fully committed” to its deal with the US Army to supply HoloLens headsets, along with cloud-based services for those headsets. The contract with the US Army is said to be worth over $20 billion over a ten-year span.

While Microsoft is no longer developing its own mixed reality hardware for consumers, it is still involved in the market. Services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Microsoft Office applications are available for the Meta Quest platform.

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KitGuru Says: The HoloLens had so much potential but unfortunately, Microsoft appears to be done with the project for the foreseeable future, outside of its contract with the US Army. 

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