Trident University
Product
MKT301 Principles of Marketing
July 15, 2016
Alex Kipman introduced Microsoft Hololens, moving from virtual reality to what is known as Augmented Reality where it brings holograms into the real world. Only the wearer can see the holograms, but you are not transported into a virtual world; the world is brought to you. The hololens is a goggle-like product that the wearer wears on their head and can manipulate using hand gestures and physical movements around their own environment. There are many other companies that are dabbling into this. Oculus Rift VR is considered “poster child” of virtual reality, with goggle similar to Microsoft’s Hololens, except that you are wearing a “computer screen” on your head and it tricks your mind into thinking you have been placed in a new world. Others like Google Glass, Epson’s Moverio Smart Glasses and Magic Leap are all attempting at getting into augmented reality, but none are as far as Microsoft Hololens in development of bringing augmented reality into, well, reality. Microsoft Hololens has interacted with skype capabilities and took it a step further by allowing a built in camera in the lens to allow the person on the call to see what the wearer sees and help the wearer with tasks such as plumbing, electrical work, etc.
I would not consider the Hololens to be either innovative or replacement products. They are not new and there are other products, as explained, that are similar. The Hololens would not be considered a replacement either as it is not an upgrade to anything that Microsoft has produced. I can see how some would think that this product would be considered innovative since it is considered as the “first fully self-contained, holographic computer”. However I think I would categorized the Microsoft Hololens as an Imitative Product. I think it is this because the idea of producing an “alternate” reality goggle was from the ideas from T.V. shows such as Star Trek, or...