Most of us have heard of virtual reality and augmented reality at this point. With virtual reality, you can put on a headset and step into a virtual world, where it’s possible to interact with digital content. You can explore an entirely different space, outside of the reality you think you know. Augmented reality, on the other hand, adds another layer to your existing landscape.
With augmented reality, you add extra elements into your existing environment, either using a headset or a camera. You can still see and interact with the world around you, but there are other elements available too. So, that’s VR and AR – but what about MR?
What is Mixed Reality?
MR, or Mixed Reality, is a blend of the digital and physical worlds that breaks down the walls between virtual, digital, and physical interactions. This new reality comes from updates in computer vision, display technology, and new input systems. However, mixed reality is actually a term that’s been around for a lot longer than you might think.
The application of Mixed Reality first appeared in a paper by Fumio Kishino and Paul Milgram, looking at mixed reality visual displays. Since this paper looked at things like the 'virtuality continuum' and the taxonomy of displays, a lot of things have changed. Mixed reality now includes spatial sound, environmental input, positioning and locations in virtual and real spaces, and more.
Over the past few decades, exploration into the relationship between computer input and human beings has continued, leading to a discipline called human computer interaction or HCI. Human beings can input their information through various means, including voice, touch, mouse connections, and so much more.
Developments in the use of sensors and processing in the mixed reality landscape is giving rise to a new era of computer input from every environment. The interaction between environments and computers is basically the perception of the landscape, environmental input addresses everything from a person’s position in the world, to the surfaces and boundaries of their space. Environmental input can also include environmental sound and ambient lighting.
Understanding the Spectrum for Mixed Reality
Companies like Microsoft that are now exploring the world of mixed reality, look at the MR landscape as a spectrum. According to them, mixed reality blends the physical and digital worlds, which are two realities defining different edges of a spectrum called the virtuality continuum. The realities that exist throughout that spectrum are the mixed reality spectrum.
For instance, Microsoft offers two kinds of devices to deliver mixed reality. The first is a holographic device characterised by its ability to place digital content into the real world, making you think it’s really there. The other devices are “immersive” devices, which are characterised by their ability to create a sense of presence and replace the physical world with the digital.
