Introducing Mixed Reality (applied to Learning & Development)

XR technology is advancing rapidly, opening doors to new mixed reality use cases every week.

To give you a taste of what’s new and how it could be applied, Soulmade has developed a Proof of Concept (PoC).

The purpose of this PoC is to demonstrate a few of the latest developments in XR and their possibilities. It is by no means a finished or polished product.

What do I need to look for in this video?

This video demonstrates 3 new features which we think can be game-changing for business use cases.

1. Passthrough – Blending the virtual and real world

We believe the real value of immersive experiences lies in enhancing the real world with digital elements, a.k.a. Mixed Reality (MR). This offers several major benefits.

• The user can still see the space around him throughout the entire application so that he never feels isolated from the real world. This isolation is a common issue with Virtual Reality where the user is dropped in a virtual world losing all connection to human interactions and physical environments.
• This also minimizes any discomfort which some VR users still suffer from (especially with poorly designed experiences or low-end hardware)
• You can interact with digital as well as physical elements. In contrary to more common Augmented Reality (AR) applications where some information is projected onto your view but the interaction is very limited. In MR, pick up, modify, manipulate, and control digital elements just as you would physical elements which enables a seamless integration of both worlds.

2. Hand Tracking – Intuitive Usability and User Experience

XR applications need to be intuitive to be successful. People without experience need to be able to use these applications without guidance or tutorials. Eliminating the need for controllers is a huge step forward to achieve this. Users can press buttons and control the app with their hands and fingers just as if they were physical buttons.

3. Scene Model – Smart interpretation of the room

The Scene Model understands the space around you, knows where surfaces and objects around you are and it’s dimensions. This physical information can then be used in the application to augment with a digital layer. For example, in our PoC you can sit down at any table, floor, bench, … and it will be recognized as a possible workspace for your training. No need to manually draw surfaces or sit at the same spot every time to use the application.

Opening doors to new mixed reality use cases

The demonstrated novelties enable a lot of new and more intuitive experiences, maximizing user adoption and satisfaction. It further drives down the cost of your setup as you need less space and hardware.

Digital guidance can now be mixed and overlayed with physical interactions, opening doors to better experiences where you can feel and manipulate physical as well as digital objects during your training.

The mobility for this kind of application is fantastic. Take your VR goggles anywhere and start training! No need for expensive VR training arenas, specialized setups with projectors or other equipment. You can move freely, no strings attached (literally!) and without risk of bumping into a wall thanks to the passthrough feature.

More than just assembly…

While we are showcasing a training guide for a simple assembly task, there are a ton of other mixed reality use cases to be found. Just to give you two more:

• POV: You are an architect or contractor.
  Scan a room and let the application automatically propose the ideal layout of electrical outlets, light switches, etc. Make changes with your hands in the Mixed Reality environment, save the results and automatically generate plans, quotations, and bills of material for the job. Involve your client in the process by inviting them to the MR world and co-create the optimal installation.
• POV: You are a professional interior decorator.
  Completely design a space in MR before committing a single cent and risking client disappointment in the end. Thanks to MR you can really experience a space as you would like to see it. Thanks to the mix of the real and digital elements in 3D, you get a perfect feeling for sizes, lighting, colors, and composition in your room.

To get the most out of what XR developments have on offer, we guide you in your process. We assist you with a feasibility study and budget estimation. We will then help you calculate the ROI of the investment so you can make the best decision for your business.

Technical information

If you want to experiment with these concepts for yourself our would like to reproduce our results. This is what we used to create this poc:

• Hardware: Meta Quest 3
• Software: Unity with Meta SDK v64

Want to know more?

Curious about what it takes to implement these concepts? Have a look at our pricing guide where we share the price of 8 finished projects!

Other questions? Don’t hesitate to contact us!