What is mixed reality?

Mixed reality (MR) is blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. It's the next technology set to revolutionise the way we live and work. Like the Blackberry phones that made their way from briefcases to our pockets, and the Internet connections that powered offices and then our TV streaming at home.

Meta is on a mission to give people the power to build community and MR does just that by providing better ways of working for everybody.

How does mixed reality work?

Mixed reality includes both fully immersive virtual reality (VR) and blended experiences where digital objects are added or augmented to our physical environment (which is why it's sometimes known as augmented reality, or AR). It might be helpful to think of mixed reality like this: VR + AR = MR

Mixed reality for you

At Meta, we talk to a lot of businesses that are already using MR technology day to day. And we consistently hear them describe the same benefits for their employees and for their organisation.

How mixed reality benefits employees

• People feel like they're really there: Mixed reality experiences are so immersive that people forget about the technology and lose themselves in the experience.

• Conversations are more natural: Virtual avatars have accurate facial expressions and hand gestures, so talking to colleagues feels just like a regular conversation.

• There are fewer distractions: Mixed reality removes the temptation to multitask or keep the camera off, which means everyone is fully engaged.

• It's more convenient: With mixed reality, you can create your perfect workspace, with multiple screens and customised environments, then take it with you wherever you go.

How mixed reality benefits businesses

• Employees are more engaged: Shared interactive experiences are more engaging than video calls, and help leaders feel closer to employees.

• Productivity has improved: Mixed reality helps businesses to share complex ideas with ease or bring diverse groups of stakeholders into tasks to significantly reduce completion times.

• Collaborative tasks run more smoothly: Immersive workspaces allow teams to react to and refine their work simultaneously.

• Remote workers feel more connected: Hybrid teams work and communicate in a more natural and inclusive way, no matter where they're based in the world.

• It leads to better outcomes: For all these reasons, businesses tell us that mixed reality increases the effectiveness of their work. 74% of employees who use VR agreed that headsets improved the quality of their work.

What can mixed reality do for businesses?

Mixed reality is transforming the way businesses take on a wide range of tasks. The advantages of using mixed reality can be broken down into four key areas. Expand the boxes below to find out more.

Mixed reality helps creative teams overcome a wide range of challenges. Here are just some that working in a Meta Quest headset can solve.

Challenge 1: Developing 3D objects with 2D tools

Clay modelling and prototype building uses valuable time and resources. Three-dimensional drawings on 2D screens only go so far in representing their physical counterparts. Mixed reality allows users to step into designs and understand them in greater detail. Enhanced visualisation not only benefits the design process but sign-off too, as selling ideas to stakeholders becomes more immersive than ever.

Challenge 2: Avoiding mistakes

Even small errors can have a big financial impact on your project, especially when you're designing something as large and as complex as a skyscraper. Because of limitations with 2D tools, mistakes often don't get caught until well into the product development cycle. MR simplifies the review process for a wide range of stakeholders to help you spot and fix problems earlier and at a fraction of the cost. Just like it did for construction firm Mortenson who saved tens of thousands of pounds by using Meta Quest devices when designing a data centre in Illinois.

Challenge 3: Creative silos

Whether it's in product design or building information modelling, the best ideas require effective collaboration, especially when multiple stakeholders are involved. Unlike video calls, MR gives users a strong sense of presence. Colleagues and clients half the world apart can hold natural conversations and customise designs in real time for a truly creative experience.

Challenge 4: Staying on budget

Increasing the pace of innovation usually requires investing in expensive physical equipment or ramping up capacity. But not with Quest devices. Rapid prototyping in MR eliminates the cost of overheads and material waste of building prototypes, and allows users to build and test virtual designs while saving time and money.

Challenge 5: Speed to market

Time is of the essence when you're designing a product or space. Whether you're trying to beat your competition or rushing to meet customer demand, MR offers a quick turnaround on development and delivery. Speedy testing and on-the-spot amends without physical remodelling makes this a truly agile way of working.

Challenge 6: Tricky design briefs

Complicated design requirements can be a hurdle to bringing your ideas to market – but not in MR. Easy connectivity with existing infrastructure gives designers the data they need for more informed decision-making. With access to real-time feedback, you can be confident your ideas are on point for even the most complex briefs.

Challenge 7: Unlocking ideas

Overcoming everyday design challenges helps to unlock your creative team's 'unexplored' ideas. Working in 3D not only makes it easier to refine, remodel and reimagine the task at hand but adds a new dimension to users' thinking – who doesn't want a more empowered design team?

What challenges does mixed reality solve for training teams?

Staying competitive in today's hybrid work environment means investing in continuous training. But with many businesses facing time constraints and stretched budgets, training can often get overlooked, especially for remote workers. Learning and development strategies need to evolve to support employees wherever and however they work. That's where mixed reality comes in.

Challenge 1: Making training efficient

According to Meta research, 61% of employees training in soft skills noticed an improvement in speed when using VR rather than online and video methods. When it comes to hard skills training, 59% of employees notice an improvement in speed when using VR. Training the traditional way requires coaching, physical premises and sometimes the need to travel. All of these can be expensive and time-consuming. But the upfront costs of headsets are soon offset by longer-term efficiency savings.

Challenge 2: Scaling up

Sourcing global talent is easier than ever, but getting everyone together in a learning setting is nothing short of a logistical nightmare. With MR training, you can reach remote and hybrid teams anywhere, anytime. And, according to the latest research, training 3,000 or more employees using VR could cost you 52% less than traditional methods.

Challenge 3: Different learning styles and speeds

We all learn differently, and the pace or level of training can cause some employees to lose interest or struggle to keep up. With mixed reality, training courses run at a pace that suits the learner. The personalised experience doesn't have to be a lonely one, as trainees can interact with each other along the way.

Challenge 4: Effective inductions

Only 12% of employees think their company does a great job with onboarding. Immersive inductions standardise your colleagues' new starter experience and provide an insight to your workplace before their first day to help them get settled more quickly.

Challenge 5: Getting people up to speed

Watching a dull training video or reading a weighty manual isn't the most effective way to teach employees new tasks. If your business is under pressure to plug a skills or staff gap, MR training could be the answer to getting people up to speed faster. Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer learned that lesson for themselves when VR headsets helped to reduce training times by 40%.

Challenge 6: Giving real-world experience

65% of employees feel more confident in applying soft skills training if it's delivered in VR rather than other online or video methods. The figure is much the same for hard skills training, where 60% of employees feel more confident after learning in headsets. Why? Most traditional learning fails to replicate the real-world conditions that we work in. When using MR for training, learners are presented with more life-like scenarios to help them practice the skills they need to carry out their work more confidently.

Challenge 7: Reducing risk

Learning on the job can be fraught with danger in high-risk environments and industries. Mixed reality offers learners a safe place to fail – a chance to practice real-world skills without the real-world consequences, thanks to detailed simulations.

What challenges does mixed reality solve for knowledge workers?

The number of fully remote workers in the US more than quadrupled between 2018 and 2023, which means meetings have become more challenging. Mixed reality helps make hybrid teams feel more connected by providing an environment where everyone feels truly present, even if they're on opposite sides of the world. Here's how.

Challenge 1: Making meetings productive

Getting meetings right matters. Engaging everyone involved is half the battle, and meetings in mixed reality allow you to customise your virtual office space to inspire your work. In Meta Horizon Workrooms, you can host your next catch-up in a city skyscraper or by the crashing waves of the sea, whichever works best for the task at hand.

Challenge 2: Connecting in a meaningful way

Traditional meeting platforms limit the ways we communicate with each other, whether it's the inability to pick up on body language on voice calls or the difficulty of having side conversations during video calls. Mixed reality meetings set us free, using avatars to create a sense of presence and spatial audio to direct sound from all angles and your colleagues around you.

Challenge 3: Building team cohesion

Many employees say they don't have enough opportunities to bond with their colleagues, particularly those who work remotely. Building relationships can be especially tricky if some people are in a physical meeting room while the rest participate virtually. The sense of presence in VR levels the playing field for everyone, helping to forge closer bonds and create better-connected teams.

Challenge 4: Reducing screen fatigue

Remote meetings have become the norm and it's all too easy for screen fatigue to impact our work. Once you're in VR, the screen melts away. Headsets offer a more dynamic way to work, where users are free to move around their workspace and express how they feel through their avatars. And when you need a screen, Quest headsets give you the option to conjure up three giant screens so there's no compromise on productivity.

Challenge 5: Staying focused

Dull topics, physical distractions or simply discussions that go off-piste. The potential to lose concentration during in-person and remote meetings is high. Once you're in a headset, there's no worrying about your surroundings and attendees are 100% focused on the task at hand.

Challenge 6: Making sure that everyone's voice can be heard

One study shows that 38% of hybrid workers feel that headsets help them to interact more confidently. VR promotes inclusion for all by offering the best of both worlds; the freedom and flexibility of remote working with the sense of connection and belonging of the physical office.

What challenges does mixed reality solve for comms teams?

The best comms teams not only share effective messaging with customers and clients, they also play a vital role internally, building community. A massive 77% of workers agree that VR helps to improve sense of community at work. When people come together in mixed reality, they feel more engaged, more included and more connected to their company. Mixed reality helps to overcome a range of challenges to build a stronger sense of togetherness.

Challenge 1: Unsuitable workspaces

85% of employees believe workplace environments affect their mood and productivity. By equipping your teams with headsets, your colleagues have the power to choose where they work both physically and virtually, to create their perfect mixed reality and a more enjoyable place for everyone to work.

Challenge 2: Rewarding teams

Employees are more likely to feel part of a team when their hard work is recognised. Mixed reality gives employers the platform to highlight and celebrate your team's achievements. Whether it's through immersive town halls or a virtual hall of fame, the potential to boost morale is huge.

Challenge 3: Disengaged employees

A clear career path can help your colleagues to feel invested in their role and support others in theirs. With the help of the right developers, your HR department can build a solution to gamify their training and set out a clear development programme.

Challenge 4: Large and diverse teams

There's no one way to build community at work. Team-building activities might resonate with some people but fail to strike a chord with others. Just as MR allows design teams to tweak their ideas with ease, it also empowers HR teams to rethink the ways to build stronger connections.

Challenge 5: Communication barriers

Reaching out to a diverse workforce means speaking their language both metaphorically and literally. With meetings in VR, teams can interact with large-scale presentations in any language in real time. When everyone's receiving the same message at the same time, it's easier to feel part of a team.

Challenge 6: Replacing water cooler talk

Without a shared physical space, remote workers find it difficult to build bonds in natural ways with their colleagues. Thanks to avatars and virtual spaces in MR, dispersed teams can bump into each other in digital hallways and strike up those conversations that forge happy and healthy work relationships. It's something that extended reality creative studio Agile Lens knows all too well.

Challenge 7: Senior support

A sense of community comes from the top down. Mixed reality helps more senior members of a team to feel better connected to their colleagues. The technology allows managers to immerse themselves in frontline employees' everyday tasks and develop a deeper understanding of their challenges, or to simply be there for their team by providing a comfortable space to discuss important issues.

Choosing the right mixed reality headset for work

Understanding how MR can help your business is one thing but finding the right headset for your needs is just as important. Here, we take a look at the Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 2 in more detail.

How to get started working in mixed reality

Now you've seen what MR at work can do, it's time to put together a strategy to get started. These seven steps should help you get there.

Step 1

Kick off – Establish an implementation timeline so you know what your major milestones are. Secure budget from IT and purchase the hardware you need.

Step 2

Develop a use case and KPIs – successful VR pilots have a specific goal in mind. Decide what objective you're trying to reach (e.g. making creative teams more agile and reducing time to market), determine the right KPIs then engage with your test population, in this case your design team.

Step 3

Engage your executive sponsor – another reason some technology pilots fail is because they don't have executive buy-in. The best way to secure this (along with the funding or operational support that comes with it) is to get your leadership team to try VR and experience their own 'a-ha' moment. Once you've done that, get feedback on your use case and KPIs and set up regular check-ins.

Step 4

Choose (or develop) your VR app – while Meta makes the hardware, VR experiences come to life through the apps in our store. There are loads of apps from third-party developers that your design teams can work with, such as Gravity Sketch or ShapesXR. Or you might choose to develop a bespoke experience. Whichever route you go, set up regular review sessions with the test team and iterate based on their feedback.

Step 5

Set up hardware and software – enrol in the Meta Quest for Business beta to get access to device and app management controls to make deployment swift, smooth and secure.

Step 6

Launch pilot – activate your headsets and let your creative team start experimenting. Work with your tech partner (if you have one) to set up onboarding, demos and troubleshooting. Track impact against your KPIs and start thinking about how to scale.

Step 7

Conquer the world – once you see positive results from your test team, go back to your exec sponsor with plans for additional use cases and budget. Purchase headsets and follow the previous steps to scale up.