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Microsoft Significantly Misrepresented HoloLens 2's Field of View at Reveal
To significant anticipation, Microsoft revealed HoloLens 2 earlier this week at MWC 2019. By all accounts it looks like a beautiful and functional piece of technology and a big step forward for Microsoft's AR initiative. All of which makes it unfortunate that the company didn't strive to be clearer when illustrating one of the three key areas in which the headset is said to be improved over its predecessor. [...] For field of view—how much of your view is covered by the headset's display—[Alex] Kipman said that HoloLens 2 delivers "more than double" the field of view of the original HoloLens.
Within the AR and VR markets, the de facto descriptor used when talking about a headset's field of view is an angle specified to be the horizontal, vertical, or diagonal extent of the device's display from the perspective of the viewer. When I hear that one headset has "more than double" the field of view of another, it says to me that one of those angles has increased by a factor of ~2. It isn't perfect by any means, but it's how the industry has come to define field of view.
It turns out that's not what Kipman meant when he said "more than double." I reached out to Microsoft for clarity and found that what he was actually referring to was not a field of view angle, rather the field of view area, but that wasn't explained in the presentation at all, just (seemingly intentionally) vague statements of "more than twice the field of view."
[...] But then Kipman moved onto a part of the presentation which visually showed the difference between the field of view of HoloLens 1 and HoloLens 2, and that's when things really became misleading.
Microsoft chief defends controversial military HoloLens contract
Microsoft employees objecting to a US Army HoloLens contract aren't likely to get many concessions from their company's leadership. CEO Satya Nadella has defended the deal in a CNN interview, arguing that Microsoft made a "principled decision" not to deny technology to "institutions that we have elected in democracies to protect the freedoms we enjoy." The exec also asserted that Microsoft was "very transparent" when securing the contract and would "continue to have that dialogue" with staff.
Also at UploadVR, Ars Technica, and The Hill.
See also: Stick to Your Guns, Microsoft
Previously: U.S. Army Awards Microsoft a $480 Million HoloLens Contract
Microsoft Announces $3,500 HoloLens 2 With Wider Field of View and Other Improvements
Related: Google Drafting Ethics Policy for its Involvement in Military Projects
Google Will Not Continue Project Maven After Contract Expires in 2019
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27 2019, @11:34PM (5 children)
"institutions that we have elected in democracies to protect the freedoms we enjoy."
I don't recall voting for mass surveillance and broken security. I DO recall political power grabs and blame shifting.
I think it is time we improved elections. At the very least we can adopt ranked choice and punish election fraud severely so that we actually do have true democracy. After that I think we need a better method of providing feedback for what the actual people want. Not direct democracy, but certainly closer to that than the shitshow we've got right now.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27 2019, @11:38PM (2 children)
Elections are broken. It's time we move on to something better. Maybe alternating so Republicans are in power for 4 years at a time, then Democrats get two weeks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27 2019, @11:43PM
CrookedHillary could do a lot of damage in two weeks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @12:54AM
ha!
troll thinks the "shitshow" was referring to the GOP and responds as trolls so often do, what idiots
(Score: 2) by arslan on Thursday February 28 2019, @12:35AM
Next up from Microsoft, an AR tool that will augment reality so you get the election you want!
* Terms and conditions apply, please read the fine print. Augmented reality does not guarantee events in actual reality. Microsoft holds the right to deny your augmented reality as well as your actual reality.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @06:06AM
I don't recall voting for mass surveillance and broken security.
Well you did! Every time you reelect 95% of your goddamn crooked congress! Every two years you squander the opportunity to completely clean out the House, so FUCK ALL Y'ALL! Blame shifting indeed!
(Score: 1) by liberza on Wednesday February 27 2019, @11:35PM (1 child)
Doesn't the Army probably use Window$ too?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Freeman on Wednesday February 27 2019, @11:43PM
Guaranteed. This is an issue of design/purpose. There's a difference between creating a general purpose tool that the Army also happens to use to kill people with (General purpose OS or Screwdrivers) and designing a tool specifically for that purpose (HUD for combat soldiers or Missiles).
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Informative) by Freeman on Wednesday February 27 2019, @11:38PM (2 children)
That's why you don't listen to the marketing speak. Go for the real information in the technical specifications. In the event you have no clue what the difference is between ghz, mhz, and h2o. I would recommend, talking with someone who has a clue.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @06:49AM (1 child)
The technical experts rarely make the final decision. It's the ignorant and ego-driven brass who does, and salespeople know how to play their emotions & ignorance like a Stradivarius.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday February 28 2019, @03:20PM
Microsoft misrepresenting the field of view specs in their promotional material has nothing to do with the military contract. The editor just smashed two stories about the same thing into one. The backlash for the military contract is coming from Microsoft personnel who don't like the idea of working on a project for the Army.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday February 27 2019, @11:38PM (8 children)
Kinda Ender's the Game for Microsoft, does it not?
(I can't move to Linux because of
gamesI have to kill people! )(Score: 4, Touché) by c0lo on Thursday February 28 2019, @02:46AM (7 children)
'Speaker for BSoD' was inspiring too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @09:05AM (6 children)
I had no idea there was a sequel? Mormons in Space, in the Space Force , for the Heavenly Father/abuser! OMG, do they let black folk into their fucked up religion? Have the apologized for not having done so yet? I Imagine Dragons, but they are all up in Brigham Young's intestinal tract, what with I thought it was only OK to have gay sex with the elect, not just some guy you met while on Missionary! This changes everything! [google.com]
Does Pence know about this? Does the Donald have even a clue, or did he leave this to Mikael Cohen? When the Constitution hangs by a thread, a Mormon named Mitt will have to ride in on a White Horse, and, well, not get elected. My gawd, Mormons are Morons! The Angel Moroni, tried to tell them, in their own alleged holey book. How much more obvious do you have to be? "Hello, idiots, I am the Angel Moroni, and I have some gold plates that can only be read by that man over there with a Stone and a Hat. It is kind of like havingt 8" Floppies. You are at the mercy of those with the hardware.
And, you have to trust their output, since you have no hash function to verify their claim that Brigham should have 24 wives. Oh, how the stupid have fallen! And made to live in Utah? Oh, poor devils! Poor idiots! Poor, well, poors.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Thursday February 28 2019, @11:06AM (5 children)
Oh, fuck off.
I don't care what axe you have to grind for Card, I find his books as quite enjoyable reeds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 28 2019, @05:33PM
It's too late! You're a Card-carrying member of the Alt-Right now!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Touché) by TrentDavey on Thursday February 28 2019, @07:02PM (3 children)
... so you cut them up and use them in your saxophone or oboe? Interesting.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday February 28 2019, @09:42PM (2 children)
Subtle, very subtle. So subtle I couldn't detect any meaning. Does your comment carry one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Friday March 01 2019, @08:48AM (1 child)
Way out in the Thules, or, a marsh? Billibong?
Or were you only objecting to the quotidian take-off on a simple typo?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday March 01 2019, @08:58AM
Beat me if I noticed the typo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @12:15AM (7 children)
It is weird how Microsoft and Amazon have strangely become the most ethical large tech companies. I would not have expected that twenty years ago. It's not that their ethical conduct is especially good, but everyone else's moral compass is pointing straight down.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @12:17AM (1 child)
If your moral compass is pointing straight down, it is a Plumb Bob, and you probably got it from Bob Jones Plum University. Or, it's your dick.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @12:28AM
It's probably both.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday February 28 2019, @12:28AM
Is Microsoft defined by its leadership or by its rank-and-file developers? Because if you read TFS you'll find that the CEO wants to do business with the U.S. Army, it's just the lowly devs that are objecting to it. Similar story at Google with Project Maven.
These companies could fire their whiny devs, or just create some subsidiary or joint venture to handle the autonomous killer robot work. To be conducted with zero fanfare.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @12:47AM (1 child)
It's employee's market [blackamericaweb.com] now. As result, those employees have power [forbes.com]. That's all.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday February 28 2019, @02:55AM
That this particular employee - or rather, contract programmer - did _not_ have power during the Dot-Com Crash led to my first, very early and purely _private_ experiments with what ultimately turned out to be Soggy Jobs.
There is one respect in which AC's gripes are valid, in that it is incredibly difficult even for highly qualified applicants to get interviewed. This because I've read - and RSN will supply the [needed citation] - that the average job board post results in one thousand applications.
Were I such a hiring manager, I would trim that down to a much smaller number of resumes, with the winners in this First Cut being those applicants whose first names have a prime number of letters - "Un", "Ann", "Peter" and so on.
Among my aims for Soggy Jobs is to greatly _reduce_ that initial pile of one thousand resumes by enabling _every_ applicant to be far far more judicious in selecting which jobs to actually apply for.
For example you could for public companies, read their financial reports. When many - not all, but _many_ job board posts are _anonymous_, the only way to determine whether you'd even want to apply is to actually go ahead at do so. Surely there is some reason?
I am to give the power _back_ to the applicants by making it trivially easy to apply _everywhere_ you would actually want to work, to make it easier to avoid commuting by listing companies that are _not_ in Tech Hubs - Vancouver, Washington in my own case - as well as to avoid getting spammed by the body shops because you will _not_ have a profile on my site, nor will you have a resume. The _only_ way someone will find out you're looking for work is when someone actually _receives_ your resume.
Indiegogo launch coming in... Real... Soon...
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @01:41AM (1 child)
> The military is not the enemy
Are you sure? Nukes done away with the US's nation-level foreign threats some 50 years ago. Nuclear power-plants could have resolved US dependence on foreign oil too and saved America every single war post-WW2. What "friendly" service has the military done for you lately? Really, what positive value of the moral kind does the military-industrial complex add to your existence? Cause from over here at the sidelines, it sure looks like a boot firmly pressed against your face.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday February 28 2019, @03:41PM
Once the world really got the picture of how destructive and environmentally unfriendly Nuclear bombs actually are, they ceased to be useful in conventional wars. They exist only for MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) reasons. They could possibly have a use in a last resort kind of situation, but generally that'd be likely to trigger a MAD situation. Nukes will do us no good in conventional warfare, because we actually want a world where we can survive. You think too much CO2 is bad for the atmosphere / environment. How about detonating a few dozen Nuclear Warheads or even just one or two?
The military doesn't exist to make moral decisions. The military is there to win. The civilian leaders are the ones that should be making the moral decision to go to war or not. Sure, even military personnel should have some moral compass, but that moral compass is based on wanting to protect their own country. Chivalry ended a very long time ago, perhaps the last widespread act of Chivalry in war was this: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/christmas-truce/ [snopes.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @12:28AM (2 children)
IBM is still hanging around. I don't know how MS will fare.
Monopoly is a powerful drug.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 28 2019, @01:14AM (1 child)
What does that have to do with anything?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Thursday February 28 2019, @02:51AM
As the Buddhist monk once said, everything
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday February 28 2019, @12:57AM
Windows Professional?
MS Plays For Sure?
MS Bob? Shit...it didn't even kneel!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday February 28 2019, @01:27AM
And anyone who has followed them for, I dunno, 30, maybe 35 years, is surprised?
Color me surprised, which in my case is pretty effiective camo.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday February 28 2019, @02:38AM (2 children)
"Field Of View" is _always_ the angular width, height or diameter, never the area.
Nevar.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RandomFactor on Thursday February 28 2019, @05:04AM (1 child)
"Yes your Honor, they asked for 'X', but we defined 'X' as 'Y' right there in the technical specifications."
It's not our fault they made that mistake.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 3, Touché) by Bot on Monday March 18 2019, @09:12PM
Q: How many Microsoft engineers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None, Bill Gates will just redefine Darkness (TM) as the new
industry standard.
The above joke must be older than windows 98.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @02:53AM
Almost old enough to drink. Micro$oft have contentional relations with the Army in the movie too:
GENERAL: What's wrong with this thing?
It's fucking Windows 98!
Get Bill Gates in here!
You told us Windows 98 would be faster,
with better access to the Internet!
BILL GATES: It is faster. Over five million...
(General shoots Bill Gates)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28 2019, @06:44AM (1 child)
Don't you just love those people? People who think words mean what they want them to mean?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday February 28 2019, @07:58AM
It begs the question if the english language doesn't have a share of the blame too?
(large grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford