Microsoft is back in the consumer AR game…

Microsoft just announced that it is ready to make a consumer version of its augmented reality (AR) headset, the HoloLens. This is something of a pivot from the company’s historical direction. When we checked in on the HoloLens last month, Microsoft had just inked a $22 billion enterprise deal with the U.S. Army. Per the deal, the Army will deploy 120,000 HoloLens headsets for training and potential use in the field. This is the largest deal in the burgeoning AR industry to date.

Of course, this deal reinforced Microsoft’s focus on enterprise applications for the HoloLens. Simply put, the headset is way too big and expensive for consumer adoption.  Now it turns out that Microsoft will invest the cash flow derived from the U.S. Army deal into developing a consumer version of the HoloLens.

This may have been just what the company needed to commit to a consumer product. A massive enterprise deal will be the catalyst for further investment for a consumer product.  Microsoft plans to produce a version of the HoloLens that will weigh 90 grams or less. For comparison, the fourth generation of Snap’s Spectacles that we talked about on Monday will weigh about 134 grams. That’s just over one-quarter of a pound.  We can see where the industry is going here. It sees the 100-gram threshold – give or take a few grams – as the weight limit needed for mass consumer adoption. 

Microsoft didn’t say when the consumer version of the HoloLens will be ready. It’s just aiming to get back in the consumer game. I’m not surprised.  Players like Facebook, Google, Apple, Snap, Niantic, Samsung, and others are already racing after the next massive consumer electronics market. It was just too tempting for Microsoft to sit on the sidelines. I would expect another update from Microsoft later in the year.