A developer’s kit for Microsoft’s upcoming augmented reality platform Hololens will be released in early 2016, with the company revealing that it will be priced at a ludicrously high $3,000.
The Hololens Development Edition will only be available to developers for the platform, but unlike the Oculus Rift in which consumers could opt to buy a pre-release headset, this early version of the Hololens will only be available to developers who fill out an application form for Microsoft.
Microsoft made the announcement during an event staged by the company in New York today, revealing that the Development Edition would ship to developers at the start of Q1 2016. While the final consumer version of the headset could well be priced differently, it is unlikely that it will stray too far away from this steep price point, meaning that it looks likely that the platform will launch to a very niche market.
Much speculation has surrounded the retail price of the likes of the Hololens, Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus, and though early footage has certainly suggested that Hololens would be pricier based upon its more advanced technology, $3,000 is too high of a price point to enable the vast majority to jump on board with the device.
Also See: Edward Snowden Claims Smartphones Can Be Hacked with One Text Message
Microsoft debuted a demo of a game in which the user shoots down alien bugs rendered into the room, made possible through the newly announced Project X-Ray which enables wearable holograms that provide “mixed reality entertainment.” The tech giant also revealed that the final consumer model would be completely wireless and would not require a connection to a smartphone or PC.
Hopefully the final build of the device is valued at a dramatically lower price point, but that seems somewhat unlikely. It’s also going to prove to be something of a headache for independent app/game developers, who must now evaluate whether forking out that hefty wad of cash is worth it after considering that what Microsoft might have on their hands here is potentially an overpriced AR headset, doomed to solely impress the very few that can justify purchasing it. Considering that Microsoft have already gone through this debacle with the Google Glass, hopefully the Hololens won’t suffer the same fate.
