By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO

Microsoft announced Monday that its HoloLens augmented reality headset, arguably the most innovative device the company has released in years, will begin shipping to developers March 30 at a $3,000 price tag.

First unveiled a little more than a year ago, Microsoft’s HoloLens is a headset that projects holographic images above a user’s field of view.

Unlike virtual reality products like Google Cardboard or Oculus Rift, the HoloLens does not block out the user’s view of the real world.

Perhaps most importantly, it does not require a tethered smartphone or other device to work – the headset is run by hardware found just inside the visor that operates on Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system.

“The future of technology will not be confined to just two dimensions – our future interaction with technology will more closely mirrors our real world,” Alex Kipman, the inventor of the HoloLens, wrote Monday.

“Technology coexisting in our real, three-dimensional world, beyond screens and pixels. We believe that the future is holographic, and as a result, we will continue to empower the developers who will help bring that future to life.”

The device will ship to developers in the United States and Canada beginning March 30, with more countries to follow in the near future.

Kipman heralded the announcement Monday because it is a major step toward strapping the HoloLens onto the faces of consumers.

Throughout the past year, the HoloLens team has forged several partnerships already with a wide range of institutions including automaker Volvo, medical educators at Case Western Reserve University and NASA.

The space agency sent two HoloLens devices to the International Space Station in December, where astronauts from around the globe are experimenting with the headsets in streamlining training and mission preparedness.