While Virtual Reality (VR) completely immerses its users in a specially designed 3D environment through the use of headsets, and Augmented Reality (AR) overlays 3D and computer-generated elements over physical space, Mixed Reality (MR) can be viewed as the two meeting.
Mixed reality (MR) is blending the physical and virtual worlds. It offers a previously untapped element of interaction and interface between the virtual and physical worlds by allowing users to directly interact with 3D elements as if they were physical – as well as these digital elements reacting to the physical world they are placed in.
For example, an app that allowed users to view a 3D rendered character through their smartphone, moving the camera around the character and allowing the user to see them at various angles, would be considered AR and is a widely used feature of the technology. However, with MR, this same character would be able to generate awareness of its real-world surroundings, having the ability to walk up stairs or approach and sit on a chair. MR is a unique and exciting technology for anyone wanting to engage their audience and allow user interactions like never before.
Mixed reality offers a variety of real-world applications, from education to design to health and safety. Soon, a safety inspector may use an MR headset touring a production facility to display real-time statistics on specific areas and machines. Corporate meetings may be occupied by real-time, life-sized holographic displays of board members and employees. The possibilities for mixed reality are as exciting as the technology itself, and we can help your ideas and messages be at their forefront.
As the barriers between the virtual and physical worlds continue to break down, user interaction becomes increasingly more in-depth and nuanced. Utilising next-generation imaging and sensor technologies, an audience can be fully immersed in the physical world while also fully interacting with an endless possibility of virtual objects, characters, and environments.
