Does HoloLens REALLY have a consumer future?

Despite its enterprise focus, HoloLens 2 is packed with tech that has a promising future in the consumer space — if Microsoft can successfully overcome some significant hurdles.

Microsoft always has a lot of projects in the works, but one of the most fascinating to watch over the last several years has been the company’s efforts with HoloLens. And with the reveal of HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress 2019 this week, Microsoft upped the ante by improving upon nearly every aspect of the original.

Still, despite its impressive capabilities and an increasingly clear vision, HoloLens’s decidedly enterprise focus can make it hard to zero in on just why the average Jane should care about what Microsoft is doing with augmented reality (AR) in the short term. Taking a longer view, however, we’re starting to see some hints of how Microsoft’s work on HoloLens could filter down to the consumer space, though the company clearly has a long road ahead if that’s ever going to happen.