Abstract
The developments in technology have presented many opportunities as well as threats to businesses in interacting with their customers. Mixed reality (MR) technology is one of those disruptive technological developments that many organizations have taken advantage of in order to enhance interaction with consumers. Consumers are not always eager to interact with organizations through the internet due to security and privacy concerns associated with the use of the internet. On the other hand, mixed reality technologies combine the physical and digital worlds allowing better interaction with consumers. Mixed reality technology allows effective consumer interaction, improved consumer experiences and enhanced engagement. There are however challenges associated with the use of mixed reality technologies which include costs, privacy, and security issues; hence, the adoption of these technologies in developed countries is minimal. It can be recommended that there is a need for companies to invest in infrastructure that promotes the full implementation of mixed reality technologies.
TopBackground
Mixed Reality (MR) is a concept that has been around for many years, but only recently has it become more widely used. The term was first coined in 1994 by Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino, who defined it as “a class of environments that includes both virtual and real elements, where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real-time.” The concept of MR has evolved over the years, as technology has advanced and become more widely available. In the early 2000s, the term was used to describe a range of technologies, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and a combination of both (Speicher et al., 2019). In recent years, MR has become more widely known due to the success of products such as the Microsoft HoloLens and the Oculus Rift and these products are leading the way in the development of MR, as they allow users to interact with virtual objects in a physical environment (Rauschnabel, 2021). MR has a wide range of applications, and it now straddles various fields such as entertainment, education, healthcare, and industry, and it has the potential to revolutionize the way people interact with the world around them, and it is expected to continue to grow in popularity in the years to come.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Real Environment: Natural or physical environment.
Augmented Reality: Is when digital content is superimposed on users’ real surroundings.
Virtual Environment: Refers to a computer-generated environment that mimics the real world.
Information Communication Technology: Refers to all technological tools and resources that can be used to send, store, create or share information.
Consumer Engagement: Refers to the creation of seamless relationships with customers.
Immersive Technology: Is a collective name for all disruptive technology applications such as virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality that create experiences by merging the physical and virtual worlds.
Virtual Reality: Is a computer-generated environment allowing users to navigate and interact triggering real time simulation of senses.