Hololens Predicted to Focus on Enterprise Instead of Game Development

Microsoft’s Hololens utilizes a high-definition stereoscopic 3D head-mounted display, and spatial sound which allows developers to create truly unique experiences using augmented reality. This revolutionary VR technology has been demoed by Microsoft and showcased its potential to revolutionize gaming. Theoretically, it’s possible to interact with worlds in a tactile manner and feel more connected with the gameplay. Although, rather unsurprisingly, it seems the Hololens technology is primarily designed for enterprise scenarios as it could be difficult to integrate with complex modern titles.

In an interview with Gamingbolt, Chris Pruett from Robot Invader discussed the viability of Hololens as a gaming device and said:

”It’s too early to tell! But I think that it’s likely to be targeted at enterprise rather than games, at least at first,” 

He also weighed in on the development process for the PlayStation VR game, Dead Secret:

“VR in general is very difficult to get right from a game play perspective. Many of the common game design patterns used for years on console and PC games simply do not apply to VR. We mentioned the HUD and user interface above, but there are many other areas that are similarly affected. Creating a comfortable motion system, for example, is very hard.”

“Our approach to locomotion is designed around the basic properties of the human vestibular system, and we did a whole lot of user testing to make sure we’d gotten it right. There are many areas like this that we take for granted when playing on a TV that must be completely rethought for VR.”

It’s clear there are some major pitfalls when trying to create games on the Hololens. That’s not to say it won’t be used for this purpose in the future, but it looks set to be a niche device for the enterprise market.