Microsoft researcher explains why HoloLens hasn’t reached consumers yet

Alex Kipman, the visionary behind Kinect, gave his TED talk in Vancouver, Canada, in a virtual world with a HoloLens. Afterwards, Kipman told journalists that the HoloLens will not be sold to consumers yet.

“If I feel like the world is ready, then we’ll do it [apparaat] sell to normal people,” Kipman told reporters after his TED Talk. “It can be as soon as we say ‘yes’ and that can take a long time.”

During the talk, Kipman’s setting changed several times: from an enchanted forest, to the moon and Mars. He also spoke via a holographic projection with a scientist from NASA. All this was shown on a screen during the talk.

The HoloLens already sells for $3,000 per developer kit. According to Kipman, the hardware is quite ready for the ordinary consumer. According to him, if a consumer were to buy a HoloLens today, they would say, “Great, I bought a $3,000 device and I can do 12 things with it. Now it’s collecting dust.”

It is unclear what a possible consumer version will cost. It’s not surprising that Kipman is so careful. When the Kinect went on sale, it was immediately very popular, but the enthusiasm quickly diminished, partly due to a lack of applications.

The official TED Talk video is not yet online. Until then, we’ll have to make do with this picture