What Is Mixed Reality? Definition, Working, and Applications

Mixed reality is defined as an immersive technology that combines elements of the physical world with those of the digital world to enable them to interact with each other, typically through 3D holograms. This article defines mixed reality, describes how it works and explains the applications of this emerging technology. 

What Is Mixed Reality?

Mixed reality is an immersive technology that combines physical and digital elements to enable them to interact with each other. This is typically done through 3D holograms.

After mainframes, PCs, and cellphones, mixed reality is the next computing revolution. The term “mixed reality” was coined in a 1994 study titled “A Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays” by Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino. 

Their work investigated the notion of an immersive virtual continuum and the classification of visualizations. Since then, the use of mixed reality has expanded to incorporate geographical mapping and anchoring, hand tracking, vocal input, as well as collaboration on 3D assets, in addition to displays.

The use of mixed reality by consumers and enterprises is now widespread. It offers intuitive connections with data in our homes, work areas, and with our peers, liberating us from screen-bound experiences. 

Millions of internet users across the globe have experienced mixed reality using their mobile devices. Mobile AR provides the most prevalent mixed reality solutions on social media today. Users may not know that Instagram’s augmented reality (AR) filters represent mixed reality experiences.

Mixed reality combines the digital and physical worlds, enabling organic and intuitive 3D interactions between humans, computers, and the environment. The developments in computer vision, graphical implementations, audio and visual technologies, input methods, and cloud computing are responsible for this new reality.

Due to the difficulty of effectively developing mixed reality experiences, we are still in the first phases of MR’s discovery. However, the prospects are limitless. Programming for mixed reality enables digital things to interact with actual settings and individuals to engage with virtual aspects as if they were real. Creating genuine MR experiences requires sophisticated input sensors as well as software development kits (SDKs).

Mixed reality allows us to:

• Speed up innovation: Using mixed reality, construction or design teams can simply generate digital twins of items and test innovative concepts with minimal waste and cost. With MR, you may quickly experiment with many materials and concepts.
• Simplify collaboration: Imagine being able to construct a holographic rendition of a new automobile with colleagues who are located hundreds of miles apart. Mixed reality, like VR and AR, enables the development of far more engaging shared and interactive experiences.
• Ease workloads: Cams on mixed reality headsets may feed material to coworkers in real-time, allowing professionals to comment on what they observe (such as the picture of machinery next to another team member) and offer clear real-time instructions.
• Optimize training and development: Mixed reality provides tremendous training and development possibilities. Companies may develop immersive training and development opportunities for individuals in all situations using mixed reality. This not only aids in developing muscle memory but could also lessen the danger associated with certain training situations.

MR vs. VR vs. AR

Virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality are altering our lifestyles and workplace environments. 

• Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated, interactive representation of a genuine or artificial place or activity. 
• Mixed reality (MR) is an interactive representation or perspective of real-world and computer-generated components. 
• Augmented reality (AR) is a perspective of the actual world that incorporates computer-generated embellishments.

Today, surgeons can train for life-saving procedures using virtual reality operating tables. Chefs can see step-by-step instructions while preparing meals with the help of AR glasses. Very soon, enormous, mixed-reality warehouses will start loading shipment boxes based on floating packing instructions.

The terms VR, AR, and MR, are often exchangeable. For many, VR is an all-inclusive phrase for something that is computer-generated and lifelike. However, the words are readily distinguishable. Mixed reality works as a technology in itself, with its own features, functionalities, and applications.

The immersive experiences spectrum offers one of the most insightful perspectives on mixed reality. According to immersive technology pioneers such as Microsoft, mixed reality ranks alongside virtual and augmented reality simultaneously. This spectrum is also known as the “continuum of virtuality.”

On one extreme of the spectrum are the physical, real-world settings in which humans live and interact with actual objects. The ecosystem formed by computer programs as well as software is on the other extreme of the spectrum.

Although you are actually in the real world, a bulk of the material you interact with in virtual reality (VR) is virtual. Augmented reality (AR) resides nearer to the physical reality end of the spectrum, where the vast majority of the information you view and interact with is genuine, with little digital enhancement. Compared to these two complementing technologies, mixed reality is at the center of the spectrum.

With mixed reality, you can place virtual content in the actual environment via holograms and interact with them as if they were physically there. By generating avatars and sending information across cloud storage into all the other MR-enabled spaces, you can also immerse yourself in the virtual world from the actual world.

See More: What Are Haptics? Meaning, Types, and Importance

How Mixed Reality Works

Mixed reality works with the help of cloud computing and artificial intelligence. An MR device processes and stores data in three axes or dimensions using powerful AI sensors, lenses, a graphical processing unit (GPU), as well as graphic cards or core chips. The more a device’s capabilities, the greater the mixed reality experiences. Examples include intelligent eyewear, gloves, bodysuits, and smartphones.

MR devices may link consumers to a wireless or wired computer, console, or PC to access software. The program may add, duplicate, or relocate virtual items to create immersive environments. Modern mixed reality headsets, such as Hololens, generate high-fidelity settings to engage users in virtual activities, thus erasing the boundaries and separating reality and technology.

Apart from headsets, here are the four other types of devices that use MR:

1. Smartphones and other mobile devices

The computational power and mobility of mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones, have increased over time. Numerous modern mobile devices have developed toolkits for MR apps. These tools enable developers to superimpose computer images on top of footage of the real world. 

While AR-based entertainment applications have proved effective, professional and utility apps have started to include MR elements. Due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices, their display technologies are a critical factor in the growth and acceptance of MR. 

2. Heads-up display (HUD)

Head-up display (HUD) projects 3D graphics directly in front of the user without significantly obscuring their surroundings. A standard HUD consists of three components: 

• A screen — Responsible for superimposing the HUD’s graphics, 
• A combiner — A surface onto which the graphics are projected
• A computer — Combines the other two components and performs whatever real-time computation or adjustments necessary

In the beginning, prototype HUDs were used in the army to assist fighter pilots in combat. However, they evolved to assist in all elements of aviation eventually. Mixed reality HUDs can combine 3D imagery and data visualization with transportation and moving vehicles.

3. 360-degree immersive environment (CAVE)

The Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) is a setting in which a person is encircled by projected screens on all sides, above and below. Complementing the projections, 3D glasses, as well as surround sound, provides users with a feeling of perspective intended to replicate the actual environment. Since its development, engineers have employed CAVE systems, creating and testing mixed reality product prototypes.

4. Head-mounted displays or MR glasses

A head-mounted display (HMD), placed over the whole head or next to the eyes, is a device that projects a picture immediately in front of the user’s eyes using one or two lenses. It is widely used in the health, leisure, aerospace, and engineering sectors and provides a level of visual engagement that cannot be achieved by conventional displays.

Head-mounted displays are very popular among MR entertainment customers. Nevertheless, most head-mounted displays remain virtual reality displays that do not include the actual environment. Microsoft’s HoloLens is an MR head-mounted display (HMD) with applications in both medicine and engineering. It gives clinicians a deeper understanding of the physical world in real time. Magic Leap, a company creating a similar device with potential in both the private and consumer markets, has created a remarkable augmented reality HMD.

Apart from displays that comprise the frontend experience, environmental perception and advanced user inputs also power mixed reality. Input techniques have continued to shape the interface between people and computers in recent decades. 

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is a new field of research that encompasses keyboards, mice, touch, pens, and even speech recognition. New computer perceptions of settings based on HCI input techniques are being created by advances in sensor technologies and processing power. This is why MR employs application programming interfaces (APIs) that may record the body position of a person in the real environment, surfaces and limits, ambient illumination, and physical places.

Creating authentic mixed reality experiences requires the integration of three fundamental elements: computer processing driven by the cloud, improved input techniques, and environmental awareness. Our movements in the physical world are tracked in a digital space. In a manufacturing plant, physical boundaries impact mixed reality encounters such as games and task-based assistance. With contextual input and perceptions, physical and digital worlds begin to converge.

See More: What Is the Metaverse? Meaning, Features, and Importance

Applications Of Mixed Reality

Here are some of the most notable applications of mixed reality:

1. Making sports and entertainment more immersive for fans

Developers are currently working on other mixed-reality applications that could generate comparable experiences, such as concerts where your favorite performers interact with digital props and football games where the action seems to be taking place in your living room. PGA Tour fans can leverage an app that rendered golf courses in 3D some years ago. The Tour also intends to use HoloLens for event setup and golf course planning, while players can prepare their strategies with mixed reality before their first shot on the courses.

2. Working and collaborating from a remote location

Using mixed reality, employees of any organization will be able to work with customers or other coworkers even if they are not in the same area. Language barriers will be eliminated without difficulty with the help of translation tools that can translate in real time. If video conferencing or Skype calls impress you, mixed reality sessions will be much more revolutionary. NASA, for instance, collaborated with Microsoft to develop the OnSight program, which enables scientists and engineers to be virtually present on Mars.

4. Incorporating a social element into games

Adding a social element to virtual gaming is one of the most popular use cases of MR for gaming. Virtual games have often restricted the experience of digital things to the individual wearing the headset, resulting in a solitary gaming experience. But MR has the potential to overcome this issue by building a virtual community. In other words, many players may enjoy the same gaming experience via numerous headsets and holographic avatars.

5. Improving knowledge retention and safety in e-Learning

MR may enhance online learning by displaying the information in three dimensions. This method will aid children in forming lasting memories and better comprehending what they are learning. This concept may also be used to train in safety and health as well as industrial maintenance and repair. This strategy assists pupils in gaining knowledge via a faux “hands-on” approach without the danger of damage.

See More: What Is Spatial Analysis? Definition, Working, and Examples

6. Delivering new and unique customer experiences

MR may help blur the barriers between brick-and-mortar and online shopping experiences. Using machine learning and computer vision, for instance, a mobile retail app will automatically recognize and add all the goods in a store to the user’s shopping basket. The user will have the option to buy these items, bookmark them for subsequent purchases, or even share them with friends. When using MR glasses in this situation, you will be able to access bookmarked items, ratings, and much more within a shop. MR may also assist consumers in quickly identifying and acquiring the items they require from the store.

7. Making healthcare more effective and accurate

The utilization of MR technology in medical apps has the potential to transform the healthcare industry completely. With the combination of AR and VR technology, surgeons will be able to treat their patients much more effectively. They will be able to study Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images of patients in 3D using mixed reality technologies. This might aid surgeons in locating the exact body part where the procedure is to be conducted, allowing them to execute surgeries successfully.

8. Transforming political rallies and campaigns

A political event is an example of those occasions that may attract enormous audiences. During a political gathering, officials ensure that all security precautions are in place. However, these arrangements sometimes prove insufficient. Any member of the audience is capable of posing a danger to the public figure. In such a situation, using MR may prove beneficial to safeguard against unexpected events. Using mixed reality technology, the political speaker may safely address the gathering while appearing remotely.

9. Streamlining manufacturing and other industrial processes

Companies are trying out digital twinning in the workplace. Digital twinning is the process of creating very realistic replicas of systems, processes, and even machines for creation, evaluation, and verification.

Digital twins offer technicians the knowledge necessary to simulate and address various technical challenges. While digital twinning was developed in industrial business, it is adaptable to any sector. Digital twinning may also be used for cross-industry application use cases such as infrastructure and automation.

10. Building better products

Using 3D modeling applications on MR devices, experts can create their products in a virtual environment that is shared with others. This form of comprehensive 3D modeling and collaboration allows engineers to identify flaws and permits real-time modification of their ideas. 

The collaborative platform enables managers to analyze and inspect 3D designs in real time. MR is also gaining popularity because of its capacity to project three-dimensional models onto various buildings and materials without the cost of 3D printing. This may then aid engineers in visualizing progress and inspecting design quality.

See More: What is CAD (Computer Aided Design)? Definition, Types, and Applications

Takeaway 

The mixed reality market is booming. According to Maximize Market Research (MMR), the global MR market was worth $811 million in 2021. It is expected to cross $15,000 million by 2029, growing at an astonishing rate of 44.5%. This is due to the multiple applications of mixed reality in different industries and verticals, along with the advancements in HCI, AI, and high-speed data processing. 

Did this article help you understand how mixed reality works? Tell us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you! 

MORE IN TECH

• Top 10 Speech Recognition Software and Platforms in 2022 
• What Is Cortana? Definition, Working, Features, and Challenges
• What Is Ubiquitous Computing (Pervasive Computing)? Meaning, Layers, Examples, and Applications
• Private vs. Public Cloud: 10 Key Comparisons
• What Is Edge Computing? Components, Examples, and Best Practices