Mixed reality is changing the way we work, live and play

The graph below shows the Top 10 Probable Assignees by Applications & Grants for mixed reality, taken from PatBase Analytics V3. The integration of the real and virtual worlds to create new environments and visualisations in which physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time is known as mixed reality (MR). Microsoft has the highest number of grants and applications compared to its competitors. They have established themselves as leaders alongside Magic Leap Inc and are transforming the way we work, live, and play. 

 Mesh Microsoft 

Microsoft has unveiled Mesh, a mixed reality platform that will enable people to remotely participate in events and meetings. Mesh uses Azure, mixed reality, and 3D capture technology to beam a person’s lifelike image into a virtual scene. With Microsoft Mesh, users can take part in virtual design sessions, learn together, and enhance virtual meetings. It provides an accessible 3D presence with depictive avatars via the device’s inside-out sensors. With its Al powered motion models, it can accurately depict the movements and expressions of the user, to make it feel as if you are interacting in person. 

With Mesh via Spatial map, virtual meetings can be far more complex. Users can work with holographic content like engines and building models in real-time, as it keeps the item in place across their device’s 3D content. It can create the 3D models to design and scale as if it was a real-life collaboration. Additionally, users have a unique perspective into it, everyone can rotate, translate, pan, zoom, add, or edit from the model being worked on. 

The above patent is the idea that the HoloLens 2 was built from. HoloLens are mixed reality smart glasses, that run under Windows 10 OS. The HoloLens 2 provides ‘the most comfortable and immersive mixed reality experience available, enhanced by the reliability, security, and scalability of Azure’. The HoloLens 2 was also adapted by Microsoft for a range of different industries, devices such as HoloLens 2 with Remote Assist, Industrial Edition, Industrial Edition with Remote Assist, Trimble XR10 with HoloLens 2 and Development Edition, were each designed, built, and tested to meet the needs of those in, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and design. Microsoft also won the U.S. Army contract for HoloLens augmented reality headsets, worth up to $21.9 billion over 10 years, showing us just how versatile mixed reality technology will be. 

Magic Leap has become a strong contender in the mixed reality race in the past year. Their ‘mission is to deliver enterprise a powerful tool for transformation’ with the ultimate vision of amplifying human potential. In September 2020, Peggy Johnson former Microsoft executive was appointed CEO of Magic Leap. Magic leap has now partnered with Google Cloud and as part of the deal, Magic Leap partners and developers will receive access to Google Cloud customers and gain support from their tools built on the platform.  

Above is the patent from which the Magic Leap 1 was derived from. The Magic Leap 1 is a wearable computer for enterprise productivity. With it, you can ‘Develop AR solutions that improve communication, reduce errors, and visualize solutions.’ The AR glasses produce ‘digital light’ at various depths to create the illusion of lifelike objects in your peripheral vision, all while keeping you aware of your surroundings. The Magic Leap has a low-latency, multi-modal input to facilitate a variety of interactions, from the meeting room to the design studio and the factory floor. 

Surgeons at UC Davis Children’s Hospital used Magic Leap technology to plan the separation of conjoined twin babies. BrainLAB’s system allowed the surgeons to upload the baby’s MRI and CT scans, which are then constructed into 3D models. Surgeons can then use The Magic Leap 1 headset with Mixed Reality Viewer to study virtual models from every angle and deconstruct them to help them review surgical plans. 

This is a fast-moving technology area with a variety of use cases that can be applied across many industry verticals. Using PatBase and Analytics V3, it is easy to search, review, share and analyse business-critical patent information and non-patent literature to gain a better understanding of a technology area. There are many handy in-built tools and features to simplify and enhance your patent search with PatBase, including, a term translation tool for searching international patents in various languages, the highlighting tool to quickly identify key terms within long patent texts, and the powerful PatBase Analytics V3 which can draw analyses on a search result set and auto-generates informative and sharable charts. Try PatBase 2.0 by registering here for a commitment-free two-week free trial: https://minesoft.com/patbase/