What’s the Difference Between Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality?

Welcome to 2018! As the future quickly becomes the present, technology is moving forward at dizzying speeds and in formats we never dreamed of. Blink a few times and there will be new smart gadgets and probably even flying cars  – It’s all closer than you think. Already we’ve seen a whole new opportunity for interactive marketing.

Technology and trends can be hard to keep up with but at this point, most of us have heard of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Now, we’re hearing buzz about a new term… Mixed Reality (MR). But how is it any different from the existing stuff?

Pokémon Go and the ensuing insanity

Just when we thought that we had all outgrown the video game stage, our friends and cohorts started buzzing about this revival of the Pokemon characters, only now the hunting was out there in the real world and the console was wireless, portable, and connected to other “consoles”, A.K.A. our phones.

Due to the massive success of Pokemon Go and the usage of MR in experiential learning and training, augmented reality (AR) has quickly become a new way to market products.

Enter mixed reality.

By wearing a reasonably priced headset, users can experience an alternate reality that looks as real as everything else around them, making it a useful tool for marketing purposes. With mixed reality, potential customers would have the ability to “test out” your products before buying them. They would be able to explore the product and learn about its usage in its anticipated environment. No need to believe the “Trust me, when you see it, it makes sense.”. There’s only so much information a person can gain from reading about a product – Mixed Reality takes it to the next level.

Another reason to consider investing in Mixed Reality as a marketing tool is that people tend to get excited about trying out new technologies. Just the process of putting on the headset and getting to escape reality for a few minutes is enough to make a specific vendor memorable. Think of it this way: Would you likely buy furniture that you see staged in a Sears catalog, or the furniture you can literally see in YOUR living room?

The coolest aspect of mixed reality is that it feels so real. For example, users will feel as if they just stepped into an alternate universe, walked through a portal, or learned how to do magic. With Mixed Reality, what’s real and what’s fantasy blend in to form the exact kind of experience a user wants. It allows the user to visualize and experience your product in real time. What could be better than that to get your marketing message across?