Microsoft Announces HoloLens 2 Developer Kit

Microsoft releases the developer kit for its HoloLens 2. The HoloLens 2 Developers Edition would make it easier to create applications for the AR glasses, including Unreal Engine 4 support. The glasses will cost $3500, the same as the regular edition.

Microsoft announces the developer-focused augmented reality glasses in its Build blog. The HoloLens 2 Developers Edition, like the normal version, will cost $3500. Microsoft includes Azure credits with the developer kit, as well as three months of free use of Unity Pro and the Unity PiXYZ Plugin. In addition to Unity, the HoloLens 2 supports the Unreal Engine 4. Microsoft will add this support at the end of May. The exact release date of both the HoloLens 2 and the developer version is still unknown, but Microsoft will soon be taking pre-orders for the latter.

Microsoft announced the HoloLens 2 in February. The device uses lasers and mirrors, among other things, to show the user an image. This would allow the device to offer a resolution of 2k per eye with a brightness of 500 nits.

The first version of the HoloLens was shown to the world in 2015. This edition cost $5,000, but the developer kit was $3,500 at the time. Microsoft has sold that HoloLens several thousand times.