With its built-in sensors and a full suite of mixed reality apps, your 3D holograms can be controlled with a gaze, gesture, or voice command. From moving the cursor by tilting you head to opening apps with the close of a hand, HoloLens offers an entirely new way to interact with the digital world. If navigating through a sea of office documents proves to be arduous, just simply speak to Cortana – your digital assistant – and she will locate the earnings report prior to your presentation.

Designed as an enterprise solution, Microsoft HoloLens uses mixed reality as the vehicle for collaboration with colleagues, clients, vendors, etc. Your Skype contacts, for example, can seamlessly overlay right above the objects on your desk or in the middle of the office floor. If that’s not cool enough, imagine being able to fine-tune a set of floor plans without physically going on the job site. Or adjusting the safety features on a new consumer technology product without needing to physically handle the model. Whether it’s altering a prototype or seeing plans from every possible angle, working in 3D affords so many opportunities to work smarter, faster and with greater precision.

As Technical Fellow Alex Kipan so eloquently put it, “People, not devices, are mobile. We are ready for technology to move beyond devices, beyond screens and pixels, and beyond today’s digital borders.” As the first fully self-contained holographic computer, HoloLens captures information about the environment you’re in. With its Sensor Fusion technology, Microsoft HoloLens can see, map, and understand the physical places, spaces, and things around you.

The fully immersive experience, which is so critical to virtual and augmented reality, depends as much on visual stimulation as it does auditory. HoloLens’ Spatial Sound technology is designed for the optimal acoustic experience. By synthesizing sound from a specific location and engineering the audio around the anatomy of the human ear, you can easily detect holograms from anywhere.

From the classrooms at Case Western Reserve where students explore 3D holograms of the human body to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where NASA scientists explore hologram images of Mars, HoloLens’ practical application is growing alongside its technological innovation.

There are two options for those interested in taking the mixed reality challenge. Compatible with Windows 10, developers can start working on companion apps by purchasing the HoloLens suite for $3,000. If your intention is to transform your company into the epicenter for 3D hologram design innovation, Microsoft’s commercial suite goes for $5,000.