Microsoft Cancels HoloLens 3 As The Company Stuggles With AR

The next frontiers in technology are VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) as companies race to blur the line between reality and “mixed reality.” According to a report, however, Microsoft is canceling its AR-powered HoloLens 3.

Microsoft cancels the HoloLens due to lack of direction

Companies are working to make Augmented Reality just a plain reality. Microsoft was one of those companies that wanted to do this. It brought some interesting and high-end devices to the market under its HoloLens brand. It made two AR headsets that projected images onto the real world.

Unfortunately, according to Business Insider, that road ends here. A person within Microsoft told Business Insider that the company is canceling the HoloLens 3 headset. The source mentioned that there was a lack of direction over at Microsoft.

The government contracted Microsoft to develop AR technology for military purposes. This was going to be for something called Integrated Virtual Augmentation System (IVAS), but that hasn’t been going well. Not only that, but the company was also working on AR for consumer purposes.

There seemed that the company was split on what it wanted to do with its AR efforts. Because of this, the company decided to put its AR endeavors to bed. This means that, despite the excitement, there will be no HoloLens 3. Right now, it seems that it was canceled indefinitely.

The company has different things it’s working on

Instead of working on augmented reality, Microsoft is diverting its efforts into virtual reality. It said that it would rather develop software that other headsets could use instead of hardware. This could be a good move by Microsoft because there will be unified software that multiple headsets can use.

One thing that could really dampen the metaverse is fragmentation among the different companies. Different companies coming out with their own proprietary hardware and software would mean that people will have to subscribe to one ecosystem per device.

While this news is new to the surface, the sources say that Microsoft may have canceled the headset as early as Summer 2021. This means that the company could have been working on its software for more than half a year. It’ll be interesting to see just where the company will take us on its journey to the metaverse.