Developers will have to fork over $3,000 for a HoloLens unit next year, but some Microsoft employees are already playing around with it at home.

"Microsoft has now started seeding HoloLens development edition units to its employees who are interested in developing applications for HoloLens," the company announced this week.

Redmond staff were encouraged to shoot short videos with the headset and post them to social media sites using the hashtag #MadeWithHoloLens. Some debuted adorable clips, like a child holding the blazing sun in her hands and this one from Microsoft sound designer Andrea Chang:

SO excited to share a taste of the supersecret HoloLens world I've been living in! #MadeWithHoloLens #HoloLensHYPE! pic.twitter.com/Yu5vy4RdmV — Andrea Chang (@TheSparkly) November 28, 2015

Other home testers showed off their gaming skills by playing Halo 5 and Candy Crush without the assistance of a physical console or computer screen. Users found they can also stream Netflix in the middle of their room, even when the TV remote is lost.

Microsoft first showed off its augmented reality HoloLens in January, demonstrating how holograms will be incorporated into our everyday lives. The headset allows users to mix the virtual world with the real one, overlaying a Skype window or pixelated game of Minecraft, for example.

A $3,000 developer version will begin shipping in the first quarter of 2016 to folks in the U.S. and Canada, as well as Windows Insider members, who can apply now for up to two devices.

In the meantime, Redmond is asking the public to submit their HoloLens app ideas through Jan. 11. The three "most viable" ideasas chosen by the HoloLens development teamwill be put to a final vote on Twitter; the winning idea will be created and distributed by Microsoft.

It's not all rainbows and sunshine for the HoloLens team, though. TechCrunch reported that 60 people working on the new technology in Israel30 full-time staff, 30 contractorshave been let go as development shifts to the U.S. Microsoft did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

For more, see PCMag's Hands On With Microsoft's Impressive HoloLens. Also check out details of Redmond's HoloLens video-capture process.

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