Mixed Reality: A powerful tool to transform human lives

Mixed Reality or sometimes dubbed as ‘Hybrid Reality’ is an amalgamation of virtual reality and real world to form a new world where digital and real things exist and interact. Sounds a bit confusing, no? Well, in simpler terms, a user who is in physical world gets lost in the digital world without having any knowledge of what is happening around him/her in the real world. Mixed Reality (MR), very similar to augmented reality (AR), has a diverse range of applications such as Military training, Real Estate training, Automobile training, and training in Business Solution. The invention and inception of VR goes more than a couple of decades back in 1990s when ‘Virtual Fixtures Platform’ was used at the US Air Force’s Armstrong Laboratories.

Mixed Reality plays an instrumental role in conducting virtual events. In present scenario, gathering a huge group of people is rather difficult due to logistic problems, and hence people opt for virtual conferences where remote attendance is mandatory and it is possible only because of mixed reality. The remote attendance at the virtual expo hall is carried out by using this technology. The people can be anywhere physically but virtually they can see and feel everything, however, without making any difference to that. The remote attendees have a more visible presence, courtesy MR. Thus, one of the biggest advantages of Mixed Reality is that it brings people closer without making their life difficult and keeping the expenditure in check.

Mixed Reality in training is used extensively as it is easy, convenient and user-friendly. The Simulation-based learning by MR has taken online learning to a whole new level altogether. It is ideally used in situations where there is less space as it can make a user feel and experience that there is acres of empty space while in the real world, the user is cramped for room and there is extremely limited space. Several sports teams of football, volleyball and basketball are trained through MR’s simulation-based learning in a small room when they are not being able to practice in the ground due to inclement weather. Hence, Mixed Reality comes as a bane for players by enabling them to train in real world environment, albeit through the lens of virtual reality.

Mixed Reality in automobile also has started generating a huge buzz with quite less expenses as compared to the real world training. In the heads up display technology in luxury cars and SUVs, Mixed Reality plays a significant role. For those wondering, head up display is a technology developed using Mixed Reality where the driver is able to see all the important information related to the car on the windshield without having to look at the instrument cluster which comprises of tachometer, speedometer and other important gauges. This technology has resulted in prevention of accidents as it enables the driver to get all the information on the windshield and he/she doesn’t need to shift attention elsewhere to fetch the information.

Mixed Reality in Real Estate has also made its mark by making the whole process easier and convenient through its ‘immersive’ experience. This technology has helped the buyer as well as seller to a great extent. The buyer can now view the property from anywhere through the prism of Mixed Reality and make his/her mind regarding the purchase. MR has made sure that the buyer doesn’t need to face inconvenience by travelling all the way to physically see the property. The seller can showcase even the minute details of a property through MR to a buyer, which could also include a 360 view. The buyer, once having had the complete virtual tour of the property, can suggest changes to the seller, such as the color combination, size and shape of certain things etc.

So, going by the above applications, one can clearly make out that Mixed Reality is indeed an exceptional tool intended towards making the human lives easier and convenient. Although, it can be said that it is not fully explored yet and intensive work is going on to find its true potential, which we are sure is much bigger and widespread. Tech giant Microsoft and Acer are working rigorously and relentlessly to reach towards its true potential and deploy it in as many human life applications. Microsoft has created HoloLens device for the use of Mixed Reality while Acer has developed MR headsets for users to experience this technology. The Mixed Reality is being termed as ‘Future’ which will totally change the perspective of people towards technology.

The Indian tech giants such as IBM, Accenture & Wipro can also make their contribution in exploring Mixed Reality further. The country has witnessed an emergence of several MR start-ups in the last 3-4 years which are working towards providing this technology to every common person. We at Yeppar are also doing our part to offer Mixed Reality solutions to folks around the globe in an affordable manner.