A designer at Microsoft, who was working on the company's HoloLens, augmented reality headset, was killed recently in a car accident in Redmond, Washington DC. Mike Ey, 30-years-old, was rear-ended by a drunk driver who then attempted to escape on foot.
According to reports, the driver in question, Robert Malsch, was driving at over 100 miles per hour when his car slammed into the rear of Ey's vehicle. Ey died on the scene while the driver made a run for it. Fortunately, he was tracked down by police dogs and captured by the Redmond Police a distant from the scene of the accident.
"I saw his car just blast past me," said Max Scott, a witness. "He missed me by about four inches. Several seconds later, I just see him a smoldering wreck in the road."
Malsch is being held at $100,000 bail, as he looks to face charges of felony hit and run and vehicular manslaughter. If found guilty, he could face life in prison by the justice system, especially since he was under the influence and tried to escape the scene instead of attempting to help the victim.
Several persons who know Ey came out in support of the late developer, including his girlfriend.
"He was the most reliable person ever," said Ey's girlfriend, Kelley Piering. "You could ask him anything and he would make sure it got done, whether he knew how to do it or not."
Before his death, Ey was working on the cool HoloLens augmented reality headset revealed by Microsoft not too long ago. He was very much excited about it, according to his girlfriend, so it is sad to know he won't be around to see if it becomes a success or not.
"He said it was the coolest thing ever," Piering said. "It's looking at the future while holding the present. Mike said it wasn't perfect but it was going to be one day."
We can only hope the HoloLens developers put in all the hard to honor Ey with a successful product. Almost everyone who saw HoloLens were excited, which makes it so hard to know this developer has passed on so tragically.
Our thoughts go out to his family and friends, along with the team at Microsoft.
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