Microsoft fully integrates Teams into its HoloLens 2 headset and takes the opportunity to formalize a future HoloLens 3.
Microsoft’s latest update for its headset Holo Lens 2 makes collaboration between colleagues even easier. One of the biggest additions is probably the full Microsoft Teams integration, with users no longer needing to use a computer or smartphone to join a meeting with their colleagues. Although the headset has been able to make and receive Teams video calls for years, its collaborative features have until now been quite limited.
Microsoft fully integrates Teams into its HoloLens 2 headset
With this new update, the Redmond company offers HoloLens 2 users the possibility of displaying holographic windows with their calls, chats and Teams calendars. Since this version also adds OneDrive integration, users can access their cloud folders and see their Word documents, PDFs and other shared videos during calls.
Microsoft has also combined its two Dynamics 365 Mixed Reality apps, namely the Dynamics 365 Guides app which offers step-by-step holographic instructions to users and the Dynamics 365 Remote Assist app which allows field workers to show their colleagues what they see. The company says the combined app was a priority request from Toyota, which has been providing feedback to Microsoft about the headset since 2016.
David Kleiner, who directs the Applied Technology and Research Laboratory of Toyota North America, explained that giving laptops to field workers doesn’t work because they don’t have a desk and using a device they can carry along with all their tools is much more practical. “Someone can just grab a HoloLens, start a Guides session, and have a trainer in their head,” said David Kleiner. “If he needs help, he can call an expert right from the app.”
and take the opportunity to formalize a future HoloLens 3
In addition to discussing the new capabilities of the headset, Microsoft also explained that it would market a successor to the current version. Reports from a few months ago claimed that the tech giant had abandoned plans for HoloLens 3 and that the end of the device was near. Microsoft, however, refuted these rumors and reaffirmed that the headset was “a vital part of projects [de l’entreprise] for emerging categories like mixed reality and metaverse. Microsoft VP of Mixed Reality Scott Evans said the company is “just looking for the right design to deliver an update that makes sense,” because “[les clients] want a new device that could offer an even greater return on investment.