11 January 2021
Comparison of Microsoft HoloLens 1 vs 2
Andrew Szajna together with the DTP Future R&D Team made an initial comparison of the smart glasses from Microsoft. The research in the domain of Augmented Reality (AR), investigated the HoloLens version 1, from 2016 and version 2, introduced in 2020. The comparison was made wearing the glasses one by one and comparing the image under the same lighting conditions. This way, you can see the difference the best.
The first impression about the field of view (FoV) is that it is twice as big in the HoloLens 2. In practice, however, Hololens 1 gives a more pleasing image, although looking at the screenshots, it would seem the opposite. The image is more smooth, the labels are not too sharp, and the colors are reproduced much more precisely.
In both the case, the visibility and transparency of the image deteriorated when used in more lit environment. It does not matter whether the light is daylight or artificially generated by all kinds of room lamps. Still the worst experience is when using the glasses outside in full sun.
The side observation is that screenshots do not reflect reality in any case.
See also:
AR glasses researched at University give very promising result: 35% faster production!
Andrew Szajna the Executive Vice President of DTP, is one of the authors of scientific paper „Assessment of Augmented Reality in Manual Wiring Production Process with Use of Mobile AR Glasses”. Read the article