Samsung wants to join the AR revolution, but is shunning Microsoft

Samsung wants in on the Augmented Reality revolution, noting at a the Virtual Reality Summit in San Diego on Thursday that “AR has much better business development for Samsung” than virtual reality as found in their Gear VR headsets.

The statement was made by Dr. Sung-Hoon Hong, Vice President of Samsung Electronics, who noted that they examined prototypes by Magic Leap and the Microsoft HoloLens, and would be building on that technology with further improvements.

“My team is developing a light field engine,” Sung-Hoon said. “Samsung’s hologram technology is really, really realistic. It looks really touchable.”

Unfortunately it does not appear that Samsung will be bringing their technology to the Windows Holographic platform, with Sung-Hoon  saying they looked at both Microsoft and Magic Leap and was considering a collaboration with Magic Leap. “There is a possibility to partner there,” he said.

Sung-Hoon said that he expects Samsung to unveil the technology at the 2017 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.