We learn from mixed realities

In mixed reality, you can basically combine things — texts, locations and people — from both our real world and the digital world.

“There are so many more ‘mixed realities’ than the one you can actually see. For example in research and in film you can create mixed realities where you are unsure what is digital and what is real,” said Daniel Sjölie, who works with interaction design at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers, at the start of his speech that explained some of the ideas for the interested audience.

On the image: Daniel Sjölie 

One member of the audience was Nadja Niegel from Chalmers, who will begin her master’s dissertation in January.

“I am extremely interested in HoloLens and want to keep up to date. At Visual Arena I can discover the latest information about the technologies and what is now available on the market, and today we could even see and test a HoloLens,” says Nadja.

Several practical applications were demonstrated, including a presentation by Nils Andersson from Eon Reality. The company uses mixed reality for training, as there is often demand for rapid access to new knowledge within an increasingly digitized and connected industry.

“We use the new technology for knowledge transfer. You can offer training sessions in anything from diagnosis of eye diseases to mending jet engines and the approach is very much based on learning by doing, which is far more effective than learning by reading,” says Nils.

In one demonstration, he showed how a person can use mixed reality to receive clear instructions and training, both at a fully equipped assembly station or virtually in an empty room with HoloLens.

Gabriel Ibanez from Cybercom at Lindholmen Science Park also spoke about ‘Smart Factories’. The project is a joint venture between schools and the business community to develop skills and disseminate knowledge about industrial digitization. By connecting to the real factory, users can interact with the factory, both via Microsoft HoloLens and a mobile phone.