The term and concept of Mixed Reality (MR) were first introduced to us by Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino in their paper titled ‘A Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays.’ Published in 1994, the article details MR as ‘a particular subset of Virtual Reality (VR) related technologies that involve the merging of real and virtual worlds somewhere along the ‘virtuality continuum,’ which connects completely real environments to completely virtual ones.’

The first Mixed Reality systems were created in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As you might imagine, like computers and cell phones back in the day, the difference between systems then and now is night and day. Mixed Reality technology has evolved with other advancements in technology. The development of different technologies like hardware, software, and internet speed has played a key factor in helping blend the virtual and physical world together.

As of today, some of the key players in tech have already developed or are in the development stage of their mixed reality headsets. Current key players in the field are Microsoft, Magic Leap, and Meta. Apple and Google are rumored to be building headsets of their own to rival their competitors. Some of these headsets may fall within the realm of extended reality, but they are all focused on providing immersive and engaging experiences for users.

The history of Mixed Reality is closely linked to the development of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). In the 1960s and 1970s, Ivan Sutherland and other researchers developed the first VR systems. The ‘Sword of Damocles’ was one of the first devices to project computer-generated images onto the real world. During the 1980s, AR emerged with researchers developing systems that could overlay digital information onto the real world. One notable example was the ‘Virtual Fixtures’ system developed by Louis Rosenberg at the US Air Force Armstrong Labs, which allowed users to manipulate virtual objects in a real-world environment.

Since then, the application of mixed reality has gone beyond displays to include environmental understanding: spatial mapping and anchors, human understanding: hand-tracking, eye-tracking, and speech input, spatial sound, and locations and positioning in both physical and virtual spaces, as well as collaboration on 3D assets in mixed reality spaces.