Microsoft 'HoloPet' trademark hints at future AR pets

Microsoft has a trademark pending for the term 'HoloPet', and given its HoloLens virtual reality headset unveiled earlier this year, this trademark likely points toward a future with augmented reality pets. For those unfamiliar, Microsoft's HoloLens is a sleek headset that overlays virtual objects upon one's real world — a display on the wall, a hologram object on your desk, and more. A HoloPet, then, could perhaps be a virtual cat or dog overlaid into your world, or maybe even pets you couldn't otherwise have (like a dragon).

This wouldn't be at all surprising, especially considering that Microsoft has already demonstrated a virtual pet as one of the possibilities offered by HoloLens — such, as seen below, was shown off at the Build 2015 event recently.

Check it: This is Microsoft's HoloLens

According to the trademark info, it was filed on May 20, and in case there's any doubts about what it refers to, the description says, "009. Computer software; operating system software; virtual reality software; software for setting up, operating, configuring, and controlling wearable hardware and wearable computer peripherals".

Why's this awesome? For one thing, you can have pets that you can't have in real-life, whether it's a virtual dog that won't trigger your partner's allergies or some mythical beast that can't be found at your nearest pet shop. You can have a kitten that never grows up. And for parents of young children, as another example, it could be a way to teach kids about the responsibility of taking care of a pet before getting one, among other things.

The big question is: what will you name your holocat?

VIA: Windows Central, dotWeekly