GIZMO GUY

Blocky blockbuster game Minecraft will be the first software to show off the potential of Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality headset.



Your typical virtual reality headset like the Oculus Rift has built-in screens, immersing you in a completely computer-generated environment. Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality headset works differently – it's a see-through visor which superimposes computer graphics on your view of the real world. It's a bit like a fighter pilot's heads-up display.



Microsoft HoloLens also differs from Google Glass, which doesn't project images over your view of the world but instead relies on a tiny screen which you can see out of the corner of your eye. Unlike Google Glass, HoloLens is reliant on a computer and Microsoft doesn't envision people wearing it as they walk down the street.



More than just adding a technical overlay to your view of the world, HoloLens can create the illusion of 3D objects floating before you. It's not actually projecting a hologram into the physical world, it just looks that way if you're wearing the headset. There's the potential for multi-user support so you can interact with other people – whether they are on the other side of the room or the other side of the world.



It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but Microsoft HoloLens is the real deal. It was on show at the recent E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles and is expected to go on sale by the end of the year. Windows 10 will feature built-in HoloLens support and the first application to take advantage of it will be Minecraft, which Microsoft acquired last year when it snapped up developer Mojang in a US$2.5 billion deal.



The HoloLens E3 demonstration didn't offer a first-person view of the Minecraft world, instead it lets gamers play God – looking down from above, diving down for a closer look and even triggering events such as lightning storms.