A closer look at HoloLens hardware

This self-contained, fully untethered holographic computer, the HoloLens, is a see-through combination of holographic lenses that capture data using an array of sensors and uses the power of processing units to understand the real and holographic environment around you. This hands-free device is made up of several sensors, cameras, and lenses put together in a lightweight head mounted device. It can be comfortably fitted over the head and adjusted as per your comfort.

It consists of specialized speakers, placed just above the ear position, which produce a floating surrounding sound. Everything is elegantly fitted and secured inside the HMD. The device produces data every millisecond and the power of processing units will take care of it with the ultimate design and processing powers.

To develop applications, it is essential to understand the different components of HoloLens because ultimately it is the hardware that will reflect the things that you want your application to do. The following are the key components of the HoloLens device:

• Cameras
• Sensors
• Lenses
• Speakers
• Microphones
• Processing Units
• Inertial Measurement Unit

Apart from the preceding components, the device also has a power adapter for an external power supply to charge the battery using a Micro USB Connector. The device has full support for connectivity with the outside world using built in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; we will discuss about this in the subsequent sections.

The following figure shows the different high-level components and their placement positions inside the HoloLens device: