Blended Reality Could Be the Next Big Thing
When you think about altering your reality through technology, something akin to the Oculus Rift often comes to mind. In order to modify reality, you need to put something bulky on your head and use some sort of additional input device—such as a controller or keyboard—in order to get the full experience.
That style of virtual reality is on the way—surprisingly, we should be seeing the consumer Oculus Rift in just months. But there’s another fashion of altered reality that might grab even more attention in the coming years. It’s called “blended reality,” and while we’re yet to see it fully realized, a new HP device is taking the concept and presenting it in a highly innovative manner.
First, let’s define the concept of blended reality. It was the Institute for the Future that first coined the term, which can be most easily described as a tech-powered sixth sense. In order to harness this additional sense, you need to wear or be implanted with some piece of technology that speaks to a computer.
“We are literally beginning to see and feel the world through a new set of eyes and ears—things that were previously invisible become visible, and we see the familiar in a new way,” the group wrote.
What does this mean in the here and now, though? What does it look like when actually presented in the form of a purchasable device? The most tangible evidence of blended reality being used in a truly beneficial manner is HP’s Sprout, which is an all-in-one desktop computer like you’ve never seen before.
A touch mat with a capacitive touch screen replaces the standard mouse and keyboard, while the Sprout Illuminator sits at the top of the display. The Illuminator captures and projects different things placed on the mat, making use of a depth sensor, scanner, and powerful camera. The device needs all of these pieces in order to capture, import, and influence physical and virtual objects.
With the Sprout, you can insert, say, a certain figurine into the computer by placing it on the mat and using the camera to scan it. From there, you can alter this once exclusively physical item within the virtual world—changing its size, placement, and orientation via the touchscreen. If you happen to own a 3D printer, you’ll also be able to make these altered objects into physical things.
Fastening a headset to your dome has its value, but blended reality isn’t looking to give you a unique experience by planting you into a new world. Devices like the Sprout hope to erase the line between physical and virtual, and while HP’s hardware is impressive, you can expect to see a bevy of even more advanced blended reality devices moving forward.
