Microsoft HoloLens
Developing a groundbreaking fully-contained augmented reality headset
For the past couple years, I have been part of the system integration electrical engineering team that shipped Microsoft HoloLens.The HoloLens is a head-mounted augmented reality device that overlays 3D content within the user’s perception of the physical world. The EE integration team weaves the device together electrically, working cross-functionally with mechanical, optical, silicon, battery cell, thermal, reliability, and DFX engineers.
From an electrical engineering standpoint, designing an augmented reality headset presents novel and unique challenges. Within a compact, head-worn form factor, the device packs a multitude of sensors, compute, and power circuitry for fan-less, untethered, completely independent operation.
Inertial, depth, and image sensors processed through custom silicon provide for environmental understanding to generate a usable map of the surroundings and the user’s position within this map. Windows OS runs atop the 32-bit Intel CPU. Three-dimensional holograms are projected onto the user’s vision through waveguide optics, a breakthrough in display technology. The device is powered by an onboard battery pack, which is good for about two to three hours of active use. It supports input through Bluetooth pair-able HID devices, as well as speech and gesture input.
I’m passionate about working on HoloLens as it is at the forefront of what I believe will be a vast segment of mobile computing. Augmented reality headsets, in the short-term, will streamline workflows in many frontline industries, and in the long-term, provide a more intuitive way to interact with digital content for us all. As AR devices become more capable and compact, it could supplant the smartphone as the ubiquitous gateway to the digital world. From a human-computer interaction perspective, AR provides a endlessly rich pasture for exploration and experimentation.
From an electrical engineering standpoint, designing an augmented reality headset presents novel and unique challenges. Within a compact, head-worn form factor, the device packs a multitude of sensors, compute, and power circuitry for fan-less, untethered, completely independent operation.
Inertial, depth, and image sensors processed through custom silicon provide for environmental understanding to generate a usable map of the surroundings and the user’s position within this map. Windows OS runs atop the 32-bit Intel CPU. Three-dimensional holograms are projected onto the user’s vision through waveguide optics, a breakthrough in display technology. The device is powered by an onboard battery pack, which is good for about two to three hours of active use. It supports input through Bluetooth pair-able HID devices, as well as speech and gesture input.
I’m passionate about working on HoloLens as it is at the forefront of what I believe will be a vast segment of mobile computing. Augmented reality headsets, in the short-term, will streamline workflows in many frontline industries, and in the long-term, provide a more intuitive way to interact with digital content for us all. As AR devices become more capable and compact, it could supplant the smartphone as the ubiquitous gateway to the digital world. From a human-computer interaction perspective, AR provides a endlessly rich pasture for exploration and experimentation.
© Ishan Chatterjee 2017
