Holograms have captivated our imaginations for a long time—for me, they go back as far as R2-D2 projecting an image of Princess Leia pleading for help. More recently, we've had rap concerts, election coverage, and even sitcoms try to capitalize on the cachet of holograms. Now, Microsoft wants to usher in the age of holographic computing, with its new head-mounted HoloLens computing device.

Demoed on stage at the company's Windows press event this week, the HoloLens looks a lot like the offspring of a Google Glass and an Oculus Rift. Like the Oculus, it takes up your entire field of vision, but like Glass, it provides only an overlay to the world around you, not an immersive world of its own. You can interact with items in the "holographic world" by gesture commands—reaching out with a hand and "tapping" something—or by voice commands.

While specific details about the HoloLens are still sparse—more will be unveiled at Microsoft's Build developer conference this April—the technology built into the HoloLens seems impressive at first glance. The device is actually a self-sufficient, wireless computer: unlike Glass and the Oculus, it doesn't need to be paired or connected to any other hardware. There is no way, other than the gesture and voice commands, to control it—you can't fall back to a keyboard, for example. For this device, Microsoft's going all-in on this new paradigm.