We’ve seen, again, how impressive Microsoft’s AR headset is, the question now is, will this apparent bundle of joy and audience wooer turn into profit, or will it turn out to be another fantastic flop, as Google Glass demonstrated could happen, concerning the next big thing in consumer tech.

There are a few factors to consider, and one of them is cost. An anonymous Microsoft exec has already let it out of the bag that the headset will cost significantly more than an Xbox One, which usually sells at around the $400 mark. If Hololens is to become a household name, an instrument used for productivity, educational purposes, but perhaps more importantly, gaming, will several hundreds of dollars be a price tag that precludes the average household from turning their living room in a semi-virtual world? Another factor, and maybe of greater influence on HoloLens’ success, is how consumers take to such a device. Will people even want to be that more immersed in their technology? Will HoloLens be another product that looks really cool, but is not really for me? The gadget needs to become indispensable, and not just a gimmick. Perhaps Microsoft has seen into the future on this one.

HoloLens was in the works before Satya Nadella took the job as CEO, and it’s reported that he was always behind the technology, seeing it as a big part of the company’s future success. Although Nadella also seems cautious. In an article in the New York Times he was quoted as saying, “I don’t want to overhype it like Google Glass…I want us to be deliberate about what it is.”

Nadella goes on to say that HoloLens was one of the main reasons why Microsoft acquired the 3-D brick building game, Minecraft, for $2.5 billion last year. A demo of how you can erect buildings made from virtual bricks, inside your own living room, while wearing HoloLens was seen at the company’s Window 10 event in January. “Let’s have a game that, in fact, will fundamentally help us change new categories. HoloLens was very much in the works then, and we knew it,” said Nadella.

And let’s face it, while anatomy lessons with holographic images are very impressive, the cash-cow is in gaming. That’s why Facebook heavily invested in Oculus and why Sony (Project Morpheus) and Samsung (Gear VR) are soon to be vying for attention in the virtual world.

Photo credit: Microsoft