Microsoft shows off new hologram technology

Microsoft shows off new hologram technology

At yesterday's Windows 10 briefing, Microsoft also unveiled a lot of other technology it had in the works. One was called HoloLens, an augmented reality headset that was designed to overlay holograms on the real world. The idea is to put a Skype call indication at the edge of your field of vision, rather than at the edge of your screen, or let you look at a 3D model you're designing in the real world.

Like Tony Stark's holograms, but with glasses instead of magic.

Other ideas Microsoft showed off, includes giving yourself as big a TV as you want - since its virtual, why not - or giving people a look at what you're doing so they can offer pointers, which are then overlayed on what you see.

Even something as simple as leaving notes for people in your life, as you can put them anywhere in any sort of format.

Of course Microsoft showed off gaming with the device too and it used its recent purchase, Minecraft, to do it. In the video above it gives us a Minecraft world that's mapped to your living room, even letting you blow through your own wall to look at a friend's world .

The one thing the video doesn't do? Show us what the people look like from the front wearing the Hololens, which is a little telling. It suggests people don't look particularly cool while using it and therefore, it might be difficult to make it catch on, even in the home.

Plus, there's no way the the conceptual CGI in these videos is how Hololens will perform right out of the gate. There will be a lot of teething issues.

Still, keeping it within people's houses might help it become more popular than Google's Glass device, which was recently pulled from shelves so Google could refine it and redefine its look and uses.