Microsoft Thinks It Can Make Holograms The Future Of Retail

Microsoft wants to take holograms for business mainstream. Stood in the middle of a construction site of a half-finished department store, the manager changes the site’s blueprint with a gesture of her thumb and finger. Switching door frames from one side of the room to another, the manager walks over to her newly-inserted door frame to inspect more closely. The store manager is wearing Microsoft’s HoloLens headset, and soon, Microsoft thinks this will be the future of retail. “I was immediately drawn in by how liberating this technology is,” says Leila Martine, director of new devices at Microsoft. “I knew this was the tech I wanted to dedicate my career to.” Martine, who spoke at Wired Retail 2017, began her career at Microsoft in 2001 and was first introduced to the HoloLens in 2014. Microsoft’ early gamble was to shun virtual reality in favor of augmented reality, letting people interact with the real world around them. “What this means is that retailers have a playground to do things they have never done before. It’s like giving you super powers,” Martine says. Read more at Wired.