What Is Mixed Reality?
WhatIs, Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024
Mixed reality refers to advanced technology that combines both virtual reality (VR), a fully immersive computer-generated experience, and augmented reality (AR), which integrates digital elements into the physical world.
On the reality-virtuality continuum, mixed reality is in the middle, enabling users to experience and interact with elements of VR and AR in their physical world.
With mixed reality, unlike AR and VR, elements from the physical and virtual worlds interact with one another seamlessly. Users experience and interact with digital elements within the context of their physical surroundings. For example, in a video game, a player strikes a non-player character (NPC), who appears as a three-dimensional (3D) hologram, with a real-world item such as a water bottle.
To integrate virtual reality with the real world, mixed reality typically uses specialized head-mounted displays or headsets, such as Microsoft HoloLens. These tools spatially map a user's environment in real time, as well as use hand- or eye-tracking and spatial sound to produce an advanced blend of reality and imagination.