Forget goggles, HoloPlayer One gives you headset-free holograms in your home

By Jon Martindale November 21, 2017

HoloPlayer One is an attempt to bring the kinds of holograms previously only seen in sci-fi movies into our homes without the need for any additional hardware. It’s a cleverly designed combination of LCD display, depth-sensing camera, and a reflective panel that lets you not only see, but interact with visible holograms.

As much promise as augmented and virtual reality have for the future of our Star Wars-inspired hologram dreams, Looking Glass Factory has a different interpretation of how it should be. The HoloPlayer One, which operates either on its own or when connected via HDMI to a reasonably powerful PC, lets anyone within a 50-degree viewing angle see and manipulate holograms.

The actual hardware itself is made up of a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution LCD display, which reflects its image onto 32 depth planes to produce a resulting 3D image that has an actual resolution of 267 x 480, according to The Verge. The Realsense 3D camera tracks your hand movements within the hologram’s projected space and allows manipulation of the digital image in real time. There’s also a bundled pair of stereo speakers for audio feedback.

In terms of software content for the system, there is an SDK available now, which the developers are hoping will encourage third parties to create compatible applications that will expand the device’s existing software. Current apps include drawing applications, 3D-sculpting apps, a three-dimensional view of a human heart, and classic game ports like Asteroids 3D and HoloNinja.

While it’s still under development, you can pre-order the HoloPlayer One in two different guises. The $750 option is called the “Development Edition” and is slated to ship out by April. It requires a decently powerful PC to work and will set you back $750. In comparison, the stand-alone version which will ship out at the same time, comes with a built-in PC packing a Core i7 CPU, and has a price tag of $3,000.

If you want to get one of these sooner, there are a handful of “Christmas 2017 rush order” units available, but they are in the tens and dwindling fast. Prices are $250 higher, but you need to get in there fast if you want to be one of the early birds.

If this rig doesn’t strike your fancy, keep your eyes peeled in the near future. All sorts of leaps are being made in the hologram market.

Topics

Computing Coordinator

Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…

Computing

Power up your tech game this summer with Dell’s top deals: Upgrade for a bargain

Dell Techfest and best tech on sale featured.

One of the best times to upgrade your tech stack, be it your desktop, a new laptop, or some high-resolution monitors, is when great deals are to be had. Well, I'm here to share that thanks to Dell's top deals, you can power up your tech game and have most of the summer to make it happen. Maybe you're happy with your current system or setup. That's excellent, but you're likely considering upgrading somewhere, and that's precisely what these deals are all about. Dell has a smorgasbord of deals on laptops, desktops, gaming desktops, monitors, accessories, and so much more. We'll call out a few of our favorite deals below, but for now, know that you should be shopping this sale if you're interested in anything tech-related.

What summer tech should you buy in Dell's top deals?

Computing

I love the MacBook Pro, but this Windows laptop came surprisingly close

Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

There are some great machines in the 15-inch laptop category, which has recently been stretched to include the more common 16-inch laptop. The best among them is the Apple MacBook Pro 16, which offers fast performance for tasks like video editing and the longest battery life.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is aimed not only at other 16-inch Windows laptops but also at the MacBook Pro 16. It offers many of the same benefits but at a lower price. Can it take a place at the top?
Specs and configurations

Computing

How to set an ‘Out of Office’ message in Microsoft Teams

Person using Windows 11 laptop on their lap by the window.

Many people use Microsoft Teams regularly to communicate with colleagues both inside of the office and remotely. It is considered one of the most efficient ways to ensure you can stay in contact with the people on your team, but what if you need to let people know you’re not readily available? Microsoft Teams has a method for you to set up an "Out of Office" status for your profile to let staff members know when you’ll be gone for the afternoon, for several days on vacation, or for an extended period.
Where do I go to set up my ‘Out of Office’ status for Teams?
It is important to note that your Microsoft Teams and Outlook calendars are synced. This includes your out-of-office status and automatic replies. So, whatever you set up in Microsoft Teams will reflect in Outlook. Similarly, you can set up your out-of-office status in Outlook, and it will be reflected in Teams; however, the former has a more straightforward instruction.

First, you can click on your profile icon in Teams and go directly to Schedule an out of office, as a shortcut. This will take you to the settings area where you can proceed. You can also click the three-dot icon next to your profile icon, then go to Settings > General, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you'll find out-of-office settings and click Schedule.