It’s been 2 months since the initial release of the HoloLens and the version of Windows 10 on the HoloLens has remained the same the entire time. On May 31, 2016 Microsoft released an operating system update to the Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition with a few new features. They’ve been listening to those who’ve used HoloLens thus far, and these features are a little proof they are listening to the communities feedback.

Here’s a short video from Microsoft on the new changes / updates brought to us with the HoloLens Holographic May 2016 Update:

New HoloLens Features:

Here’s a list of many of the new features in this update. A few of the most notable have been highlighted.

• Multitasking! – with this update you can now run up to 3 “flat apps” (traditional 2D UWP apps) at the same time.
• Pin Photos without app bar! – with this update, photos can now be pinned to a surface / wall without any GUI chrome being displayed. You walls will never be the same!
• New Hologram Voice Commands
• HoloLens development updates and Updated HoloLens Emulator
• HoloLens Emulator now supports logging in with Microsoft Account
• 2D apps hide holobar and cursor when viewing full screen video
• File picker has been updated
• Edge browser updates
• Groove Music app
• Can now Rotate Holograms
• Bluetooth Mouse support!
• Take mixed reality photos by pressing volume up and volume down button simultaneously
• Mixed Reality Video recording limit has been raised to 5 minutes!
• Photos app now streams Video from OneDrive rather than downloading full video before playback
• Improved memory of where you’ve placed holograms
• Improved keyboard for entering email addresses
• Faster app registraiton
• Faster auto detection of Time Zone
• new Storage sense app
• New consolidated Feedback Hub app

Changes:

• Can now say “Hey Cortana, restart” or “Hey Cortana, restart the device” to reboot the HoloLens

Bug Fixes:

There are also MANY, many bug fixes, frankly way too many to list here. Go check out the full release notes for the HoloLens May 2016 Update for a full list of all the new features, changes, and bug fixes!

About the Author