Pins matching tag:HoloLens

Microsoft began shipping the HoloLens Development Edition on 30 March 2016 at a list price of US$3,000, first to approved developers in the United States and Canada.

At its 26 October 2016 Windows 10 event Microsoft announced the Creators Update and partners (HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer, ASUS) building mixed reality headsets starting at US$299.

Microsoft announced on 3 October 2017 that it had acquired AltspaceVR, the social virtual reality platform that had shut down in the summer, to build a mixed reality community.

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and the first Windows Mixed Reality headsets from HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus and Acer launched on 17 October 2017 from US$299.

The US Army awarded Microsoft a potential US$479.1 million other transaction agreement to prototype HoloLens-based augmented reality headsets, the start of the IVAS program.

On 22 February 2019 a group of Microsoft employees publicly called on Satya Nadella and Brad Smith to cancel the HoloLens IVAS contract with the US Army, saying they would not become "war profiteers".

Microsoft unveiled the HoloLens 2 mixed reality headset at MWC Barcelona on 24 February 2019, priced at US$3,500 for enterprise customers with a wider field of view.

Microsoft began shipping HoloLens 2 on 7 November 2019 in the US, France, Germany, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, to select enterprise customers first.

Microsoft announced Mesh on 2 March 2021 at Ignite, a cloud platform for shared holographic collaboration across HoloLens, VR headsets, phones and PCs.

Microsoft said on 31 March 2021 that the US Army had awarded it a production agreement worth up to US$21.88 billion over 10 years for more than 120,000 customised HoloLens headsets.

A Defense Department Inspector General audit released on 22 April 2022 said the Army had not defined user acceptance for IVAS and could waste up to US$21.88 billion on headsets soldiers do not want.

Satya Nadella joined Mark Zuckerberg at Meta Connect on 11 October 2022 to announce Microsoft Teams, Windows apps, Microsoft 365 and Xbox Cloud Gaming coming to Meta Quest headsets.

Microsoft switched off the social VR platform AltspaceVR on 10 March 2023, announced on 20 January amid layoffs that also disbanded the HoloLens Mixed Reality Toolkit team.

On 21 December 2023 Microsoft listed Windows Mixed Reality as deprecated, saying it would be removed from Windows 11 version 24H2 and ending its first-party VR headset platform.

Microsoft told partners in late September 2024 that HoloLens 2 was discontinued, with a last-time buy and security updates only through 31 December 2027.

Microsoft ended support for the first-generation HoloLens on 10 December 2024 with a final servicing update, saying devices would keep working but get no more security updates.

On 11 February 2025 Microsoft and Anduril announced Anduril would assume oversight of IVAS production and future development from Microsoft, pending Pentagon approval, with Azure as the preferred cloud.

On 10 April 2025 the US Army approved a contract novation making Anduril the prime contractor on the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, replacing Microsoft.

On 29 May 2025 Anduril and Meta announced a partnership to design and field augmented and virtual reality products for US and allied militaries, starting with the EagleEye helmet.

On 8 September 2025 the Army's Soldier Borne Mission Command program, successor to IVAS, awarded Anduril US$159 million and Rivet US$195 million to prototype night vision and mixed reality headsets.

Anduril unveiled EagleEye on 13 October 2025 at AUSA in Washington, a family of AI-enabled mixed reality helmet, visor and glasses systems built on Lattice for the Army's SBMC program.

Microsoft retired its Mesh mixed reality collaboration platform on 1 December 2025, moving immersive meetings into Teams after announcing the end of the standalone app in July.

A July 2026 Government Accountability Office report said the Army decided none of about 10,000 IVAS goggles it built will be fielded after roughly US$1.8 billion, with IVAS 1.2 moving to the SBMC prototype program.

SideQuest CEO Shane Harris announced on 30 July 2026 that SideQuest had acquired the rights to the Altspace name and will relaunch a spiritual successor to the Microsoft-closed social VR app this autumn.

Microsoft will stop supporting Windows Mixed Reality for consumers on 1 November 2026, ending downloads of the Mixed Reality Portal and WMR for SteamVR and all updates.

SideQuest plans to relaunch Altspace, the social VR platform Microsoft closed in 2023, in autumn 2026 as a spiritual successor with robot avatars.

Microsoft will retire its Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Guides mixed reality apps for HoloLens on 31 December 2026; renewals closed on 1 November 2025.