Microsoft Corp. may be set to announce the second incarnation of its mixed-reality HoloLens headset, according to widespread reports among the tech press.

The speculation that HoloLens 2 may soon be announced has its roots in an unexpected announcement — that Microsoft will have a stand at the Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona starting Feb. 25.

Microsoft hasn’t had a stand at MWC for three years.

In addition to the stand, Microsoft has also scheduled a press event for Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. Central European Time with both Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and Alex Kipman, a Microsoft “technical fellow – Mixed Reality and AI” in attendance.

Kipman’s presence at the presser indicates that the announcement will likely be HoloLens 2, according to The Verge.

Kipman, odd title aside, is the head of the Microsoft AI Perception & Mixed Reality Services team. His team oversees all of Microsoft’s speech, vision, mixed reality and perception capabilities — in short, the team responsible for HoloLens development, among other things.

Reports that Microsoft was planning to release a new HoloLens headset first emerged in June. At the time it was speculated that the new headset would be “lighter, more comfortable to wear and have significantly improved holographic displays,” as well as cost “significantly less than the current version of the HoloLens.”

HoloLens 2 is said to include Microsoft’s latest generation of Kinect sensor and a custom artificial intelligence chip to improve performance. There’s also speculation that the headset will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 processor.

Although the virtual and augmented reality market has arguably been somewhat of a failure, Microsoft has found a niche for HoloLens in the enterprise market. As recently as November, Microsoft landed a $480 million contract to provide the U.S. Army with a military-grade version of the HoloLens.

Support and development for the first incarnation of the headset has also been ongoing, such as with new apps targeted at industrial workers and workplaces.

Image: Pixabay