HoloLens 2 Development Edition is now available in the United States
Published Nov 02 2020 10:00 AM 53.6K Views
Microsoft

 

After strong demand for HoloLens 2, we are excited to announce availability of HoloLens 2 Development Edition in the United States. We are expanding to Canada, Germany, France, UK, Ireland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Italy by the end of the year​.

 

HoloLens 2 Development Edition costs $3,500 and combines the capabilities of HoloLens 2 with Azure, Unity, and Pixyz to empower developers to build interactive experiences and render 3D holographic content with people, places, and things. HoloLens 2 Development Edition comes with the following benefits:

HoloLens 2 Development Edition Value (MSRP; in $USD)
HoloLens 2 device $3,500
Azure credits $500
3-month Unity Pro license 1 $450
3-month Pixyz Plugin license 2 $300
          Total Development Edition Value $4,750
Total cost of Development Edition $3,500

1 Based on Unity Pro price of $150 per month
2 Based on Pixyz Plugin annual price of $1,150 per year

 

Accelerate the creation of mixed reality applications with Azure, Unity, and Pixyz

 

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From the beginning of Microsoft's mixed reality journey, Unity has provided developers with an industry-leading real-time 3D development platform with tools such as Unity Pro and Pixyz Plugin to bring their mixed reality visions to life. The included Unity Pro and Pixyz Plugin 3-month trials give our developer community a comprehensive toolset to create and deploy immersive and engaging mixed reality experiences. With an intuitive UI and toolset, rich interactivity, and true flexibility, Unity is the most versatile and widely used real-time 3D creative development platform for visualizing products and building interactive and virtual experiences.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Microsoft on HoloLens 2 Development Edition. We are fully committed to our continued collaboration with Microsoft to foster the creation of real-time, interactive mixed reality experiences across countless use cases. The future is with you, the creators, and we cannot wait to see what your imaginations bring to life.

- Scott Flynn, Vice President, Platforms – R&D at Unity

 

With collective capabilities across Azure, Unity, and Pixyz, developers can build transformative mixed reality solutions. April Speight, a Senior Cloud advocate, built a gamified language learning application for mixed reality devices leveraging Unity and Azure Cognitive Services.

 

"I often use HoloLens 2 for creating educational experiences. Previously, I used the device to make a foreign language flashcard app that gamifies French word and speech recognition. With Azure Cognitive Services, integrating Speech Translation was as simple as creating a SpeechTranslationConfig object and setting the target language for translation. I created the UI within Unity in literal minutes thanks to the UX building blocks that are part of the Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK). I am currently working on building an at-home museum exhibit using Azure Spatial Anchors and 3D objects provided by the Smithsonian. Given current limitations to travel, HoloLens 2 has given me the opportunity to bring some of my most favorite activities into my home."

- April Speight, Senior Cloud Advocate

 

Learn how to construct a language translator application with Azure Cognitive Services and Unity here.

 

Terms of use and financing

HoloLens 2 Development Edition is aimed at supporting mixed reality developers who are creating applications. See the HoloLens 2 Development Edition terms of use here.

You can purchase HoloLens 2 Development Edition outright beginning today. Financing for as low as $99 per month will be available in early 2021.

 

Get started building mixed reality solutions

 Get started designing, developing, and distributing your mixed reality apps by visiting our HoloLens 2 Overview page. Get updates and the latest mixed reality news by joining our mixed reality developer program.

 

We look forward to seeing the awesome mixed reality applications that you build. Purchase your HoloLens 2 Development Edition here.  

27 Comments
Copper Contributor

Great! We really need it! ... But haven't Dynamics Remote 365 been included in the Developer Edition until know? I remember those announcements...

Microsoft

@V1904 -  There is a version of the HoloLens that is available with commercial licensing that includes Dynamics 365 Remote Assist as a different option.  The physical device is the same, the terms of use and benefits are different.

You can see all three "package" option at HoloLens 2—Pricing and Options | Microsoft HoloLens

Copper Contributor

What if I only need the hololens and not the other services is the hololens cheaper for developers.

Copper Contributor

Hi, may I know when will be the HoloLens 2 Development Edition be available in Malaysia?

Copper Contributor

When will Unreal Engine be supported?

Iron Contributor

Mixed emotions :stareyes::sad: seeing India not being in the list. Hope there is something planned for next year. Nevertheless, great news for the developer community.

Copper Contributor

What about those of us that use Unreal Engine and are not really interested in Pixyz or Unity?

Copper Contributor

When is UK going to get this amazing device and can we purchase it via finance option as most developer just don't have 3,500 in the pocket these days  

Microsoft

@Tscallion - The device is priced at $3500 USD regardless of buying the commercial edition, or the developer edition.  The benefits for the developer edition are the software and azure credits, however if those benefits are not of importance to you, then it does not make a difference which version you get as far as price is concerned.

Microsoft

@JY9888 - We have not announced any additional markets at this time, and have nothing new to share.

Microsoft

@ReidBuz - As a development platform, Unreal Engine is supported today for both HoloLens 2 as well as our VR headsets.  We are continuing to partner closely with Epic to add new features and additional capabilities as we move forward.

Microsoft

@Randy_Miller2020 - We don't have any developer edition package at this time that includes Unreal Engine licensing. The device is not bound to any engine as far as development goes, so you could still take advantage of the developer edition and the Azure credits, or you can purchase the commercial edition for the same price without any of the benefits.

Copper Contributor

Many thanks for this helpful reply… I thought it was supported, but with only seeing the Unity/Pixyz announcement I just wanted to make sure…

Microsoft

@waheedrafiq - I don't have anything to share at this time regarding when the financing option will be available in the UK.  More details regarding the financing will be available in early 2021.

Copper Contributor

@Jbmcculloch  thanks for getting back and clarifying the price ,I am always up for freebies so well done Microsoft for giving those extra's to us developers.

Copper Contributor

Hello.. I could not understand why you leave Spain Market out... Its like you tried to avoid it.. because you selected all the markets around: IT, UK, France, etc what we did wrong? :(

Microsoft

@Jose Luis Serrano - I promise it's nothing against Spain.  There are many factors that we look at when choosing which markets to enter, and we are constantly looking and evaluating if there is strong enough signal to add additional markets.

Copper Contributor
Copper Contributor

Will it be possible to purchase this from Denmark? 

Microsoft

@Kristiane - While Denmark is not on the list of countries where the Developer Edition is or will soon be available, the commercial edition did become available for purchase there in September.  You can make the purchase at https://www.microsoft.com/da-dk/p/holoLens-2/91pnzzznzwcp/.

Copper Contributor

@Jbmcculloch So, there’s no hard or software limitations on the commercial edition, that prevents me from using it as a developer device??

Microsoft

@Thomas_Vestergard - That is correct, the hardware and the operating system are exactly the same between the commercial and developer editions.  There are no licensing restrictions on using a commercial edition for development.

Copper Contributor

Hi,

I can see that there are lots of documentations and variety of options in terms of framework, tools, etc. for developers. However, curious to know, what has Microsoft planned for Design Community? From perspective of UX Designers, apart from best practices and guides, there are no descriptions of Design Tools for Mixed Reality Wireframing and Designing. Of course there are names of some tools and for that we need Hololens, which again is not available in India. Now before you can point out to Emulator, it is of no use for designers and of great use to developers. From the perspective of UX Designer, have these queries about HoloLens:

  1. Introduction to functional capabilities of Hololens such as capabilities of Hololens in terms of generating interactive holographic objects (based on Hololens Demo videos available the assumption is that Hololens can actually project holographs which audiences can view without need of glasses)
  2. Are there any design library for UX Designers to build wireframes for Hololens?
  3. Where can a designer access the collection of widget library that Hololens already has for building wireframes and prototypes?
  4. Is it possible to access Hololens remotely?
  5. Integration of Microsoft Dynamics Remote Assistance through Hololens (such that Doctors can directly provide consultancy to patients remotely)
  6. Can Hololens directly scan live X-Rays of the patient, so that the doctor can actually examine in real-time just like shown in the demo videos?

 

Copper Contributor

when will it be available in India . how will be its service

Microsoft

@jkk1blog - India is not one of the announced countries where HoloLens 2 is available, and I don't have any news on if or when that may happen.

Copper Contributor

When will the financing for $99/mo. be available in the US?  I called today to order, and the only development option was $3500.  Thx.

Copper Contributor

@Jbmcculloch When will the financing for $99/mo. be available in the US?  I called at the end of February and the only development option was $3500.  Thx.

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