Skip to main content

Interview: How HP’s Sprout wants to change tomorrow’s workplace

HP Sprout
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The Sprout, HP’s unique immersive all-in-one that allows direct manipulation of virtual objects, will soon be available through the company’s commercial channel. To understand what that means, and how the Sprout will compete with other emerging augmented and virtual reality technology, we spoke with two key figures behind Sprout. Ann Avery is Director for North American Commercial Solutions, and Brian Allen is Manager of the Workstation Product Team in North America.

Digital Trends: Can you explain the significance of the Sprout being available through the commercial channel?

Ann Avery: When we initially launched Sprout it was targeted at the consumer customer segment. But the demand from commercial customers was pretty significant. Because of the requests we’ve had from customers, we’ve accelerated the introduction of Sprout for business customers. It’ll be available through not only HP’s commercial website but also channel partners.

Digital Trends: What kinds of businesses have shown the most interest?

Ann Avery: One of the most exciting things about Sprout is we have an opportunity to define this category. The customers that are most interested today, and we don’t believe this to be an end-all list of what they’ll ultimately be, is the education segment, customers who are in design, and companies interested in enhanced collaboration across workgroups. And that’s where we’re seeing our first order of Sprout – it’s a customer looking to drive enhanced collaboration between groups across the country.

Digital Trends: What’s a good example of the kind of educational opportunities Sprout provides?

Brian Allen: We’re seeing it in multiple scenarios. We’re seeing customized learning in classrooms, as well as remote tutorials, where a student can be on one end and a professor or teacher can be on the other. Also, growing interest in the special needs side, just because there’s so much intuitiveness in touch and using the Sprout’s mat. There’s growing interest in traditional STEM applications, science and math, but also art is becoming interested as well.

Education is probably the segment we’re most interested in, because there’s so many places, be it a class room, or lab, or special learning area, where Sprout can be useful. And it’s useful across multiple fields of education, from engineering to art.

Education is the segment we’re most interested in, because there’s so many places where Sprout can be useful.

Digital Trends: What specifically about the Sprout makes it so promising for education?

Brian Allen: I think what makes it optimal is integration. Before you’d have to get five or six different pieces and have them kind of duct-taped together. Now, there’s an integrated all-in-one with our revolutionary touch mat, and integrated projector, and HP’s workspace software.

I think the ease of being able to use the Sprout is really unique. In the past an educator could try and buy individual components and make it work, but it wasn’t easy to do.

Digital Trends: A radical new technology like Sprout can have trouble working an organization’s existing infrastructure. How is HP overcoming that problem?

Brian Allen: Well, it’s easy because it’s based on Windows 8.1 standard edition. We start with the same core operating system. At its basic level, it’s an all-in-one desktop. Then we add intuitive enhancements, and we offer our HP Workspace software to wrap it all together. But at its core, it’s Windows, so existing software should integrate well.

Digital Trends: Do you have any software partners tailoring features for the Sprout?

Brian Allen: We do have partners on the consumer side for things like Skype, SnapFish, Evernote, Dreamworks, CyberLink. We’re also working with specialized software partners on the commercial side. You’ll see announcements of those over the next few months, but they’re not ready for announcement yet.

Digital Trends: Is Microsoft’s HoloLens a competitor to the Sprout, or something that could be complimentary?

Brian Allen: We don’t see it as a competitor, so much as a complimentary solution. So at CES 2015, we introduced the Zvr, a 3D graphics display for immersive computing. And you could have the Sprout for content creation, a HoloLens or Zvr for viewing, and a 3D printer for output. That’s how we see the workflow. We expect the Zvr to begin shipping in the late July to August timeframe.

The HP Sprout is available on the company’s consumer website at a base price of $1,899. Commercial orders will begin on May 25th.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Matthew S. Smith
Matthew S. Smith is the former Lead Editor, Reviews at Digital Trends. He previously guided the Products Team, which dives…
Best OLED monitor deals: Get an OLED screen from just $450
Marvel's Spider-Man running on the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8.

Shopping some of the best monitor deals is a good way to save on some extra screen real estate, but if you’re looking for something that can produce a stunning image you should turn your shopping cart toward the OLED monitors. OLED is one of the best picture technologies currently available, and it can create a lifelike image that makes interacting with games, presentations, and creative work much more immersive. The best OLED monitors can run pretty expensive, but that’s what OLED monitor deals are for. If you’re looking for superior picture quality and some ways to save, read onward for more details on the best OLED monitor deals taking place right now.
ViewSonic 15.6-inch VX1655 4K OLED portable monitor — $450, was $500

Getting into the OLED game can be both affordable and portable with the ViewSonic VX1655. It’s a 4K OLED display that’s made to function as either a laptop extension or something to pair with a tablet. It comes in at a super sharp 4K resolution and a refresh rate of 60Hz. This isn’t something you’d want to pair with a gaming PC, but it’s a great little display to keep with you if you do creative work on the run or want some extra screen real estate while working on a tablet at your desk.

Read more
Best monitor deals: Gaming, office, curved, OLED and more
Dell UltraSharp 27 4K PremierColor Monitor

Whether you prefer to work at one of the best desktop computers, the best laptops, or anything in between, an external monitor can be helpful to add some extra screen real estate. One of the best monitors can even go a long way toward reducing eye strain and creating an immersive digital or gaming experience. While high end monitors can get quite expensive, there are always some impressive monitor deals to shop, and we’ve tracked them all down. Reading onward you’ll find what we feel are the best monitor deals, whether you’re shopping for 4K monitors, gaming monitors, ultrawide monitors, or more general monitors meant for all-purpose users.
Best monitor deals

The following deals represent a best-of of the deals below. They're selected to give a mixture of prices, styles, and levels of discount. If you don't see something you like, don't worry, as the following sections will have plenty more deals for you to choose from. However, this is a highly recommended place to start:

Read more
7 best Chromebooks for 2024: the best for every budget
Close up of the Chrome logo on the top of a Chromebook.

Chromebooks might have a hard time competing with Windows laptops and MacBooks, but that doesn't mean they don't have their place. We've reviewed hundreds of laptops over the years, testing for important qualities like performance, battery life, and display quality — and we've found that Chromebooks consistently excel at performance and reliability.

You can find Chromebooks from Google, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and many others, and we've dug through them to put together this roundup of the best Chromebooks on the market. They're incredibly accessible devices, and for the right person, a Chromebook can be the best laptop in terms of value.

Read more