When Reality Becomes Customised Reality – MIXED REALITY
There are fewer people now who have not heard terms like Augmented reality and Virtual reality. And those people must have been living under the rocks for the past 6 years. Technology and human perception have evolved in these 6 years.
Short period, huh?
But think, if the smartphones, that we consider as a part of our body, took only 20 years to become what it is now, why not the now disruptive tech of mixed reality?
A SHORT INTRO
While going after mixed reality, history points at Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishmo. Back in 1994 they presented an academic paper on mixed reality, stating that “Mixed reality is a particular subclass of VR related technologies that involve the merger of real and virtual worlds.”
And I believe this to be the best definition of mixed reality.
Paul and Fumio believed there will come a time when the computer will understand the surroundings accordingly and imaginary world (in other words, digital world) will be 100% indistinguishable from real world.
And the time has come.
HOW DIFFERENT FROM AR AND VR?
Until 2014, mixed reality was still in paper and a long-held vision. The merge of AR and VR brought the change.
Virtual Reality(VR):
Virtual reality is like dreaming with your eyes open
– Brennan Speigal
Yes, it is what virtual reality is.By the simulation of our senses, computer act as an intermediate to the artificial world. Can be experienced only through head mounted devices like Oculus Rift and HTC vines, this puts you in a 3D generated world. Not totally immersive but pretty good enough to make you feel in one of its surroundings. VR just provides pre-created environments via the HMDs, it doesn’t change your physical real environment. It invites you to its place.
Augmented Reality(AR):
Death is like Augmented reality. We can’t really accept it. Yet we can’t really avoid it.
– Halder
AR can be defined as a system that fulfills three basic features: a combination of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects. AR overlays the digital information onto the physical environment but can be viewed through specific AR devices like Microsoft’s Hololens and Google glass. The popular game Pokémon GO, is the best example .
Mixed reality(MR):
Mixed Reality = Virtual Reality + Augmented Reality
A blend of AR and VR. MR constantly scans the physical environment, gathers a 3D understanding of the space, using the information gathered, seamlessly places the digital entities in the physical space and interact with it. All you will need is a pair of lens. MR brings the digital world to you.
In short, Physical World+ Digital World = Mixed Reality.
THE CHANGE
VR and AR have been going hand-in-hand in our lives. With MR, the world and technology in it as we know today will have to be rebuild from scratch.
It will replace everything including mobile, TV, laptops and tablets. Every information will come through a single pair of lens.
MR is not just a technology hype, it is real and it is here. It will alter the way of human existence. If it can do wonder as a single tech, what if it gets combined with iOt and 5G??
It will create a personal universe. Customized personal reality.
MR will perfectly create a blend of digital world and physical world but placing digital entities on top of real world instead of diverting us away from it.
Just like in a movie, we can create our own avatar pet to walk with us. There will be constraints, but no limits to our imagination.
FUTURE OF MIXED REALITY
MR can do wonders in all sectors of life like communication, education, entertainment and healthcare.
MR has the capability to look like magic sometimes. Like Harry porter, we could teleport from one place to another, but it will be called holoporting and it is not magic. It is high-quality 3-Dimensional models of people reconstructed, compressed and transmitted anywhere in the world in real time.
Next generation kids can dissect a frog without actually dissecting it. They can learn rocket science just as there have a rocket. Study of human anatomy will be easier than ever and medical industry is now on the race to incorporate MR into diagnosing and human body study.
In case of entertainment, MR combines VR and human vision and gives us an interactive environment. IN Layman’s words, imagine being inside a movie, instead of watching it. Cool, Right?
But when our imagination is not the limit, there has to be a limit as MR can be a double edged sword.
THE NEGATIVE EDGE OF THE SWORD
Diving straight into matter, first of all, it is one concern that, MR will create a fabricated reality and people will delve into the fake one. But this argument should be left to professional psychiatrists.
Second of all, it raises the question of trust and privacy. When MR will be introduced into our daily lives, we will be sharing an unprecedented amount of information with one another and will be gaining the same amount of knowledge about our lives without our full consent.
There is a threat of bad guys planting a seed of thought in your brains without you noticing it, as MR functions as gateway to our minds, and manipulate your behavior and thoughts.
But going long-term, MR is too great of an advancement to let go. It will for sure bring prosperity than harm. It will reshape human life and perception forever. And plus it is a trillion dollar business and there is no way tech giants are going to let it pass.