Microsoft is gearing up to release HoloLens, “the first fully untethered, see-through holographic computer.” HoloLens is a headset that allows the digital world to be overlayed on the physical world, what is referred to as augmented reality. Imagine being able to host a boardroom meeting where a coworker in Japan is holographically sitting right beside you. He hands you a paper (digital) and you pick up, write a note on it, and hand it back to him. Imagine playing Minecraft and seeing all of your creations filling up your living room.
InnovateMySchool.com has an article entitled What Can The Microsoft HoloLens Offer Education? One teacher in the article, Mike Tidd, talks about how this will revolutionize teaching geography. He writes:
As a Geography teacher, it has always been difficult to explain to students what different environments such as glacial, desert or rainforests are like from only using clips and photographs. Unfortunately, it is impossible to visit via field trips all of the wonders that Earth has to offer in 50 minutes, or even within a two-year course. The cost would be crazy to start off with, let alone the risk assessments! I think my local authority would have a heart attack at the sheer idea! But with Microsoft HoloLens, we could have virtual field trips. We could literally walk amongst the glacial moraine, investigate how the wind shapes a desert landscape or meet & talk to a tribe in the Amazon Rainforest. Actually touching and looking around different environments would make geography come to life to our students. We would actually be there!
Below is a video (a few minutes in length) exploring how Microsoft Hololens can transform medical education. Hint: think about how amazing it would be to practice doing surgery on a 3D model right in front of you as your teacher hands you the scalpel while floating arrows direct you to the specific place in the body that you’ll make the insertion.
The speed at which technology is changing is truly breathtaking and with that speed we are seeing a merging and cohesion between the digital and the real world. It’s an exciting time to be alive.