Mixed reality technology aims at combining the best aspects of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), the two most trending terms of 2018 to create something entirely amazing. According to a research firm, the mixed reality market is expected to garner $5.36 billion by 2024, at a 71.6% CAGR during the period of 2018–2024. Innovations in AR and VR technology have boosted the growth of the mixed reality market.
Last year, tech giants including Microsoft, Samsung, and Acer as well as innumerable other startups have launched their products that are based on mixed reality. In fact, now, the focus has shifted toward combining artificial intelligence with mixed reality to enhance and mend AR and VR together. Mixed reality has become a disruptive force in the healthcare industry. For instance, mixed reality can be used to help patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and make pre-operative visualization of brain cancer.
That being said, here are some of the latest advancements in the mixed reality market to help you understand the concept better…
Mixed Reality Coupled with Artificial Intelligence
Mixed reality coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) is that combo that holds the potential to change the way we interact with each other. For instance, mixed reality and AI together can seamlessly convert the spoken audio into text in real time. In fact, using natural language processing, we can enable real-time audio translations between patients and health care professionals who speak in different native language.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, recently quoted, “Mixed reality, coupled with AI, could redefine the future of computing. Earlier, the technologies that are now helping people were considered impossible.” According to him, mixed reality + AI is today’s impossible that would be an important pillar of computing in future.
Combination of Mixed Reality and the Internet of Things (IoT)
The humongous data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT) and the capabilities of Mixed Reality would evolve the way data scientists interpret, interact, and track data. Moreover, in the healthcare sector, this could provide real-time updates on vitals of patients or offer interactive hospital maps with traffic flow to save time patients.
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As the technology is evolving with a rapid speed, it is challenging to predict the future, however, one thing is certain that IoT and mixed reality would hold the key of data processing and data analytics.
Future of Immersive Entertainment
From interactive games like Pokémon Go to holographic headsets that portray sporting actions to play in front of the user, immersive entertainment is being revolutionized by Mixed Reality. Mixed Reality has the ability to bend the laws of the physical world and bring the virtual objects in the real world, which is exactly what the entertainment industry crave for. For instance, with the help of Mixed Reality, people can watch live football matches where players can play matches in the living room. In a live game show, players could interact with each other if they share the same virtual world.
Apart from this, Mixed Reality has the power to eradicate the communication restrictions between employees and employers that work in the same place at the same time, enabling more immersive communication in a real time.
New Innovations Pave the Way
With every advancement in technology comes a new update in the Mixed Reality industry. Recently, Samsung launched a new mixed reality headset that incorporates anti-screen door technology. The aim is to eliminate the immersion-crushing screen door effect by diffusing light emitted from every pixel to fill in the areas around it. The same approach is being used by Sony on the PlayStation VR.
There is a fine line that distinguishes pixels, making it easier to spot them when eyes are in proximity to a display while using mixed reality or VR headset, which is commonly known as screen door effect (SDE). The feeling of SDE is quite distracting as the player loses the feeling of actually being in a game, thus, there is a pressing need for a mixed reality headset that deals with SDE. Samsung’s anti-SDE technology uses the grid to diffuse light emerging from coming from each pixel, which helps to replicate pixels to complete the picture around the edges.
Apart from Samsung, Acer has launched its mixed reality headset with the innovation of detachable modular design, which allows the user to completely remove the lens and head strap for cleaning purposes. Moreover, the mask on the headset can be flipped, enabling the user to check the surroundings. The device includes built-in interpupillary distance (IPD) wheel to adjust the distance between the display and people’s eyes to make VR apps and games in mixed reality cleaner and sharper.
This November, Microsoft quietly launched a mixed reality app, Outings, to explore city landmarks. As per the description on its website, the app allows searching for travel stories regarding tourist places from online travel blogs when the user is interested in visiting for historical places, outdoor adventures, or kid-friendly activities.
In this rapidly changing world of mixed reality, these trends may seem far in the future. However, with the help of AI, IoT, and advancements in digital transformation, the mixed reality is the next big wave of virtual reality that is going to hit every sector in the world, and we need to be prepared for it.