Created by Max Harris, Media Producer at 360dgrees.com
- Mixed Reality (MR) is an umbrella term which encompasses Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Augmented Virtuality (AV), and 360 degree video technology
- The MR industry is growing rapidly
- It is now inevitable that the widespread application of MR will be mainstream within the decade
- Now is the perfect time for enterprises, organisations, creators, and investors to take advantage of what this technology has to offer
Virtual Reality has been a subject of prophecy since 1935, when Stanley G. Weinbaum’s story ‘Pygmalion’s Spectacles’ predicted a pair of goggles that transported the wearer into a virtual world. For the past century, variations on this premise have been a staple of futurology, science-fiction, and prognostication – from Star Trek’s Holodeck to the Lawnmower Man. Now science fiction has become science fact as the widespread application of Mixed Reality (an umbrella term used to encompass VR, AR, and 360 degree video) has been heralded as not just a possibility, but as an inevitability. Industry mogul Mark Zuckerberg set the timeframe at 5-10 years before MR is mainstream.
Rushing Toward the Event Horizon
At San Diego Comic-con in July, famed visionary Steven Spielberg announced that a future ruled by Virtual Reality was coming, “whether we like it or not”, prompting Oculus founder Palmer Luckey to tweet, “It is inevitable. VR is like a blackhole, and we are all rushing toward the event horizon.” To people in the industry, it is clear that MR is going to play a huge role in the society of the future, and that the widespread popularisation, application and distribution of MR is truly inevitable. However this is not generally understood because the diversity of implementations and cross-industry relevancy of MR technologies is not yet fully understood by the layman. Kevin Kelly, Co-Founder of Wired and the Hackers Conference, explained that “we don’t really appreciate how incredibly transformative…going from the internet of information to the internet of experiences will be”.
As the technology finds an increasingly sturdy foothold, it is set to explode in both advancement and accessibility, and this is evident in the figures. For investors, now is the perfect time to make the most of the opportunities offered by the Mixed Reality industry – as MR is still getting started but is guaranteed to explode in worth.
The buzz surrounding MR has grown exponentially since 2014 when Facebook purchased Oculus VR for USD$2 billion in the same month Sony announced Project Morpheus. Shortly afterwards, Google announced Cardboard – and the MR race had begun. Within just 2 years there were well over 230 companies developing Mixed Reality tech. Facebook had 400 employees focused on VR, and Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Sony and Samsung all built dedicated MR teams.
In 2016, the VR market had an approximate worth of USD$1.9 billion in hardware and software sales. Factoring in the combined value of Mixed Reality technologies, Digital Capital estimates a worth upwards of $121 billion by 2021. IDC also predicts a 58% compound annual growth rate between 2016 and 2021, with 99 million MR headsets being shipped in 2021, up from just 10 million in 2016.
Riding the Wave of Innovation
As the Mixed Reality industry is primed to skyrocket, now is the perfect time to take advantage of this revolutionary innovation. At 360dgrees.com, our mission is to empower enterprises and organisations to harness MR to greatly improve outcomes. The immersive nature of our MR platform and our patented analytics layer provide transformative benefits and real time data which can be used to optimise outcomes and socialise benefits. We understand the true flexibility and potential of this technology, and have experts on hand who want to work with you to implement transformative solutions based on your business needs. You can use the unique and simple 360dgrees.com platform to explore all facets of the growing application of MR. Visit our website to find out more, or get in touch with us today to hear how organisations like yours are seeing the transformative results of our 360DGREES.COM platform.