Microsoft’s augmented reality headset HoloLens impressed NASA so much that in June they attempted to send two of them to the International Space Station. Unfortunately HoloLens didn’t quite make it. The unmanned SpaceX rocket carrying the headsets to ISS blew up shortly after launching, making it the third resupply mission failure in just a few months.

But HoloLens is set to leave the planet again, this time on December 3^rd as part of another resupply mission, according to an article in MIT Technology Review. While HoloLens has been lauded as a gadget that could vastly improve collaborative education down here on Earth, and also something that could take gaming into another dimension, NASA sees the headset as something that could make life easier for astronauts. This would include experts remotely guiding astronauts with virtual instructions when in a fix on the space station, or even aiding inventory checks.

According to Ops Labs at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is working on the HoloLens ‘Sidekick’ project, there are two main reasons for putting the headset in space. “The first is “Remote Expert Mode”, in which a ground operator can make a special Skype call that enables them to see what the crew sees and draw annotations into the crew’s environment in order to coach them through a task.” The second reason is what Ops Labs calls Procedure Mode, which will use animated holographic images displayed on objects that the crew is working on.

NASA has also teamed up with Microsoft to develop OnSight, software that gives astronauts a virtual walk on Mars partly using HoloLens technology. Norris said in January, “Since we can’t put our scientists, physically, yet on Mars, a technology like this allows us to investigate. Well, what’s possible if we can make them virtually present?”

It seems HoloLens is set to be the mesmerizing, manifold gadget of the near future. But as a consumer device, when will HoloLens become available? In a BBC interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said we might have to wait some time. Nadella was vague about commercial use, saying the device will be focused on developers and enterprise first, within a year. HoloLens will “evolve” said Nadella, adding, “This is a five year journey.”

When we can expect to be playing a holographic version of Minecraft in our livings rooms is anyone’s guess, but expect to wait at least a couple of years.

Photo credit: Tydence Davis via Flickr