Mixed Reality

Breakthrough Mixed Reality glasses, from Magic Leap.

Mixed Reality (MR) merges real and virtual worlds into a more complex form of augmented reality. It’s the convergence of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and the Internet of Things (IoT), creating a complex environment where digital objects intersect with the real world.  Mixed Reality is often used to describe the experience found in Microsoft’s HoloLens and Magic Leap’s Magic Leap One HMD. Intel had a parallel concept in the idea of Merged Reality (though Project Alloy has been canceled). The concept is in a state of flux and may eventually disappear or become a universal concept, subsuming VR and AR underneath it.

Mixed Reality (MR) is often referred to in the related concept of AR, but it has its own unique characteristics. It is a hybrid, bringing together elements of both the physical and virtual worlds. Digital objects are not overlaid on the user’s environment in Mixed Reality, but coexist and interact with the real world. Virtual objects in MR can be occluded by physical objects in the real world, creating a deeply immersive experience that still feels grounded in your actual environment. 

Mixed Reality is often used to describe the experience found in Microsoft’s HoloLens and Magic Leap’s Magic Leap One HMD. Intel had a parallel concept in the idea of Merged Reality (though the associated initiative, Project Alloy, has been canceled). The concept is in a state of flux and may eventually disappear or become a universal concept, subsuming VR and AR underneath it.

While there were early university research and military experiments in the 1990’s, commercial applications did not arise until the arrival of Microsoft’s Hololens in 2016. Though the company did not invent the term mixed reality, they are most closely associated with the concept (which has generated some confusion since they also apply it to a line of consumer VR headsets).

With the release of HoloLens 2 in 2019, Microsoft pivoted from the consumer and educational markets to focus on enterprise applications. The heavily funded and widely publicized 2010 startup Magic Leap released their own Mixed Reality device, the Magic Leap 1, in 2018. However, both devices are expensive and made only limited inroads in higher education. In early 2020, Magic Leap laid off nearly 50% of staff and followed Microsoft’s lead in focusing on the enterprise market. 

Mixed Reality Applications

With the release of HoloLens 2 in 2019, Microsoft pivoted from the consumer and educational markets to focus on enterprise applications. The heavily funded and widely publicized 2010 startup Magic Leap released their own Mixed Reality device, the Magic Leap 1, in 2018. However, both devices are expensive and made only limited inroads in higher education. In early 2020, Magic Leap laid off nearly 50% of staff and followed Microsoft’s lead in focusing on the enterprise market. 

While Mixed Reality devices are used in STEM and Medical education environments, the transition to enterprise has changed the focus of the technology. However, there remain highly creative uses of Mixed Reality, from artists at film festivals to NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory using HoloLens 2 to help with navigation of the Mars Rover.