Microsoft calls for HoloLens project pitches with big money for winners
Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, left, smiles as he tries on a HoloLens device at the company’s headquarters in January.
Where is Microsoft’s HoloLens headed? The company offered a hint this week when it put out a call to researchers to compete for $100,000 grants.
Microsoft has said the HoloLens — eye goggles that mix holographic images with physical reality — could benefit professionals, from doctors to construction workers, plus be great fun for gamers. The new contest hints at a broader range of possible uses:
- Training programs for science and tech education, medicine and graphic-design
- Visualizing large sets of data
- Remote communications, including emergency management
- Interactive art and storytelling, including journalism
- Research into human-computer interaction
Microsoft will select five participants at nonprofit research institutions or accredited universities; each team gets $100,000 and HoloLens gear.
The company did not specify what criteria it would use to choose the winners, but it is looking for projects that tackle problems of “broader significance and importance” that push forward the “potential for mixed reality.”
The HoloLens is not yet available for sale.
Twitter: @dainabethcita
