Microsoft has a lot to live up to after blowing our minds at Build 2015 when the company further showed us what its augmented reality headset, HoloLens, could do. At the time HoloLens chief, Alex Kipman, talked about the Windows Holographic Platform and how developers could get involved in creating universal apps for any Windows 10 device.

This year we’ll hear something to that effect again, but given some late developments in virtual reality (VR), Microsoft will need to convince us a little more that HoloLens is the future. Not a novelty item to be one day relegated to the dark depths of the bedroom closet, but a mainstay device that will become part of our living rooms.

Microsoft Build conference 2016 is about to start, and there is little doubt that HoloLens will again be a highlight. For a start, attendees will get the chance to demo the $3,000 headset, which (developer kit) starts shipping today. Microsoft, aligned to the vision of CEO Satya Nadella, has already said how HoloLens is going to play a big part in the future of the company.

Expect at Build 2016 for Microsoft to explain to us this augmented reality vision of the future, how HoloLens could change the face of gaming, education, productivity, merely watching Netflix, and why developers should be on board in creating apps for the headset. Perhaps to further impress the crowds Microsoft might give us a live demo of its Holoportation capability, if indeed Redmond believes that’s not too much of a risky venture given how things could go wrong.

Given that the long-awaited virtual reality headset Oculus Rift finally started shipping this week, that HTC and Valve’s Vive headset are on the way, and the affordable Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR is getting largely great reviews (you’ll need the right Samsung phone to use it), Microsoft will not only have to show us how HoloLens is a totally different experience from the former gadgets, but also that rather than something just to ‘play’ with, it will be an indispensable object sometime in the near future.

We might also hear when Microsoft intends to release the consumer version of HoleLens.

Photo credit: Microsoft