用不了10年，人們就可以經常跟投射到現實世界中的數字圖像以及全息圖互動了。

上周三在圣克拉拉召開的AWE（主題為增強現實和虛擬現實）年會上，微軟負責Windows和HoloLens頭戴式顯示器體驗的總經理洛琳?巴丁表達了這一觀點。巴丁主要介紹微軟為何認為這項剛剛起步的技術會成為使用計算機的新方式，僅次于移動設備觸摸屏以及標準鍵盤和鼠標。

和虛擬現實不同，增強現實技術可以讓人們看到疊加在真實世界之上的數字圖像。這種技術被微軟稱為混合現實（mixed reality）的技術，問世時間并不長，去年夏天的手游大作《精靈寶可夢Go》流行起來之后才獲得較多關注。

一年來，Facebook和谷歌等大公司都表示將投入大力氣利用好增強現實技術。舉例來說，Facebook今年4月新推出開發者工具和功能，用戶可以用濾鏡給照片添加特殊效果，比如卡通胡須。

巴丁解釋說，微軟推廣增強現實技術的途徑之一是調整經典的Windows畫圖工具，方便使用者繪制或設計3D圖形，不再拘泥于傳統的平面圖。走出技術人員的小圈子，讓更多普通消費者熟悉3D圖形制作是普及增強現實技術的“根本基礎”，大眾可以借此習慣與3D內容互動。

巴丁指出，利用新版畫圖工具、安裝了Window 10系統的電腦以及專用攝影機，今年秋天人們就可以把3D圖像投射到現實世界中。當然，他們只能在自己的電腦屏幕上觀看數字圖像。但巴丁認為，這將幫助“數以億計”沒有增強現實頭盔的人體驗新技術。

巴丁還展示了一段微軟custom studio的視頻——106部攝影機環繞著一小塊空間，制作出3D圖像可供使用者嵌入自己的app中。微軟可以捕捉一個人踢足球的動作或者羊駝緩慢踱步，然后轉換成數字圖像，人們用HoloLens頭戴設備或者某些Windows 10電腦就能在真實世界里看到動態圖像。

巴丁還說，企業可以利用這種圖像“跟粉絲互動”或者“公司培訓”，跟使用傳統的圖片庫一樣。

不過，目前公眾還買不到可將數字圖像投射到真實世界中的HoloLens頭戴設備。僅供開發者或企業使用，售價為3000和5000美元。雖然巴丁沒有透露微軟何時會公開出售HoloLens設備，但表示今年晚些時候將與其他制造商聯合推出新款增強現實頭盔，新設備將成為“搶占未來計算機領域的切入點。”

戴爾和聯想等公司也打算在今年底前拿出類似產品，不過都沒有披露過售價。（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審校：夏林

In less than ten years, people will routinely interact with digital graphics and holograms beamed onto the real world.

That’s according to Lorraine Bardeen, Microsoft’s (msft, -0.81%) general manager of Windows and HoloLens experiences. Speaking Wednesday at the annual AWE conference for augmented reality in Santa Clara, Bardeen discussed why Microsoft sees the nascent technology becoming the next way people use computers beyond mobile touchscreens or the standard keyboard and mouse.

Opposed to virtual reality, augmented reality technology lets people see digital imagery overlaid onto the physical world. Microsoft refers to AR as mixed reality, and it is still a relatively new phenomenon that generated much interest after the popularity of last summer’s blockbuster mobile gamePokemon Go.

Over the past year, major companies like Facebook (fb, -0.60%) and Google (goog, -1.13%) have indicated they will incorporate AR tech in significant ways. Facebook, for example, debuted in April new developer tools and features that lets users apply filters to their photos to add special effects, like cartoonish mustaches.

One way Microsoft is trying to popularize AR tech is by revising its classic Paint app to let people draw and design 3D graphics as opposed to traditional two-dimesional images, Bardeen explained. Getting more general consumers—not just tech professionals—familiar with creating 3D graphics “is a fundamental building block” to popularizing AR because it helps accustom the general public to interacting with 3D content.

This fall, people will be able to project their 3D graphics created via the revamped Paint app onto the real world via Windows 10-powered PCs with special cameras, Bardeen said. Of course, they will have to view the digital images through their computer’s monitor, but Bardeen said it would help the “hundreds of millions of people” who don’t have the appropriate headsets interact with AR tech.

Bardeen also showed a video of Microsoft’s custom studio, a small enclosure surrounded by 106 cameras being used to create 3D imagery people can embed in their apps. By capturing the motion of a person kicking a soccer ball or even a llama slowly walking, Microsoft can then convert those images into digital graphics that people will be able to see overlaid onto the real world with HoloLens or certain Windows 10 PCs.

Bardeen added businesses could use these stock images for purposes like “fan engagement” or “corporate training” similar to how they use traditional stock photography.

However, Microsoft’s HoloLens AR headset that beams digital imagery onto the physical world is not available to the general public. Right now, it is only available for developers or businesses for $3,000 and $5,000. Although Bardeen did not say when Microsoft plans to sell the HoloLens to the public, she said new AR headsets released later this year via partnerships with other manufacturers will be “an entry point into this future of computing.”

Some of the companies slated to release these headsets by year’s end include Dell and Lenovo, although none of the companies have said how much they will cost.