The device shown has a more elegant and smaller design than the version on sale.
UPGRADE:
The device shown by NASA is a prototype of the first version of HoloLens, as we can see in this link.
ORIGINAL NEWS (11/10/2018):
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the NASA posted a video (shared by Skarredghost) in which a viewer appears HoloLens totally different from the model we all know, so it could be the new generation of the augmented reality device of Microsoft, of which some sources suggest that it will be launched in the first quarter of 2019, this being a relatively close date that gives rise to the fact that it is actually “HoloLens 2”.
On the left the current version of HoloLens and on the right the new viewer shown in the video.
As we can see in the previous comparative image, the new device has a simpler design and a smaller size, especially if we look at the front of the sensors, which seem to be now on the front black band using perhaps only one as indicated by one of their patents. If we look inside the outer plastic protector, we can see how it still has holographic projection lenses similar to those of the “old” model, although it is difficult to know if they are larger and if they have any other difference beyond the more rounded edges.
In these side images, we can see the smaller size of the bands and the front, as well as the fastening system that seems to include a flexible tape that is closed with the button or roulette that appears on the back. In turn, in the middle of the sides we also see a silver circle that could be used to make some type of adjustment for ergonomics or simply a clamping piece.
The application shown in the video is Onsight, a virtual journey through Mars that has real data from NASA and was created in collaboration with Microsoft for HoloLens.
At the moment we have no more information, so we will have to wait to see if it is really the new generation or some kind of intermediate prototype.
