The Reality of Mixed Reality

Since Ivan Sutherland's Sword of Damocles, researchers have been pushing to make augmented, virtual and mixed reality, a reality. In recent years, these technologies have exploded onto the grand stage, with many devices on the consumer market, with no apparent slowing down in terms of demand. However, whilst excitement and thirst for mixed reality technologies is at a high, there are still many challenges in making such technologies a reality for everyday consumers. In this talk, I will outline some of these challenges -- some technical, some experiential, almost all social -- and discuss how one of the key factors of taking mixed reality to the next level is around enhancing the way humans can ultimately interact and communicate. As part of this I will outline why real-time 3D capture, reconstruction and understanding of humans and the world around us is the key technology enabler in making this form of mixed reality truly ubiquitous.