The new year holds plenty of new digital tech to be excited about. One I personally cannot wait to become mainstream is the Microsoft HoloLens.

The Hololens brings your standard on-screen computing experience into your living room in the third dimension (3-D) by using what Microsoft is calling Mixed Reality Holographic Computing. The headset works with a sophisticated combination of specialized components such as sensors, optics, and a holographic processing unit. Complicated? You bet.

From business to pleasure, there are loads of reasons to get excited for the HoloLens. Having a new dimension to bring our ideas to life is incredible, to say the least. Here are my three reasons I am excited for the HoloLens: communication, design, and gaming.

Communication

Visual communication is beginning to overcome audio alone. In fact, the only time I call anyone is to have a chat with my parents, and when that happens we like to see each other. With HoloLens, imagine having that person in your living room with you. At first, it will be a floating screen, but in future models I can see the imagery getting much more in-depth. I’m sure with or without fancy augmented reality (AR) most of us will stick to text and email for day-to-day common communication.

Design

The possibilities with true three-dimensional design are practically limitless. Designing in 3-D has been around for years and has unlocked the potential of millions of design concepts. Soon, designers will be able to bring their concepts into the office and rotate their display for all to see. The 3-D image can be frozen so the presenter or audience can walk around it, or it can be lifted into the air and spun around for an intimate display. Also, designs can be overlayed on real objects, such as the digital image of a house over its already built foundation, or the digital fairings of a motorcycle over its physical steel frame and engine.

Gaming

AR gaming is available with the new iPhone X, but for anyone that has used it, you know it has a long way to go… crash much? Microsoft is taking AR to the next level by bringing the images to life right in front of our eyes, thanks to the headset. With a headset, your hands are free to manipulate the game images. However, the gaming aspect will have a steeper learning curve, as much of the gaming market is made up of youth and people using computers for non-professional enjoyment. If it’s not work-related, it will be hard to get gamers up and moving, instead of on the couch with a controller. But, still, think of what can be achieved!

HoloLens Today

At the moment the HoloLens is quite expensive and sold commercially for $5K USD to a team, or $3K USD to the individual developer. So, it’s not quite there yet for the typical consumer market. Although, it is available for a demo in the US and Canada. The demo is by request and requires you to travel to the nearest retail outlet that has one available.

I do believe this tech will follow the usual new-tech trend of being super pricey, then coming down in price and improving in efficiency as the public puts it to use. Remember when a home computer was $3K with under a gig of memory and it was a big deal to have a computer at home? The hololens is coming, be ready when it does.