Is Mixed-Reality The Future of Entertainment?

I’ve been watching the Mixed Reality space for years now, and honestly? The hype cycle has been brutal. Every tech conference, someone’s claiming MR will “change everything.” However after trying perhaps dozens of experiences and having conversations with developers who are actually building this stuff, I will say, I think we can use a reality check about what place we really occupy.

Look, I get it. The idea sounds incredible – imagine playing games where zombies actually hide behind your couch, or watching movies where characters walk into your living room. Mixed Reality promises to blend digital content with your actual environment in ways that feel natural. Not like those clunky AR filters that obviously don’t belong, but stuff that actually looks and acts like it’s really there.

The big difference? VR traps you in a digital bubble. AR slaps digital stickers on reality. Mixed Reality tries to make virtual objects that genuinely interact with your physical world. When it works, it’s genuinely mind-blowing. When it doesn’t… well, let’s just say I’ve seen plenty of demos go sideways.

Remember when Microsoft first showed off HoloLens back in 2015? The demo looked amazing – people were manipulating 3D holograms, playing Minecraft on their coffee table, the whole nine yards. Then the actual device came out and the field of view was roughly the size of a postage stamp. Magic Leap burned through billions of dollars and delivered something that looked like it came from 2012.

But here’s the thing – those early failures taught us a lot. The technology had to catch up with the vision, and slowly, it’s starting to happen.

Gaming has always been the testing ground for new tech, and MR is no different. I’ve played Beat Saber until my arms felt like jelly, and there’s something genuinely different about swinging at blocks that seem to exist in your space. It’s not just the movement – it’s the way your brain processes the experience.

Oculus (yeah, I know it’s Meta now, but old habits) has been smart about this. Instead of promising the moon, they’ve focused on experiences that actually work with current hardware. Superhot VR is brilliant because it doesn’t try to do everything – it just does one thing really well.

The problem is, most MR games still feel like tech demos. Fun for twenty minutes, then you’re done. We need developers who understand that good games need more than flashy technology.

This is where things get interesting. Traditional storytelling is passive – you sit back and watch. MR storytelling can make you part of the story, but that creates all kinds of problems. What if the user doesn’t go where you want them to? What if they’re more interested in examining the virtual furniture than following the plot?

The Void figured out one solution – they create physical spaces that match the virtual ones. Their Star Wars experience works because you walk through real rooms that correspond with what you’re experiencing virtually. It is costly and complicated, but when it’s working seamlessly, it is unlike anything else.

Fable Studio took a different approach when they created “Wolves in the Walls.” Rather than resist the unpredictability of users, they folded it into the narrative. In their experience, it reacts to what you are doing and creates a storyline that feels actually personal. It’s not flawless, but it is pointing in the direction of something new.

I’ve seen a lot of promises about MR transforming concerts and theater. Holographic performers, shared communal experiences in VR, sets that can change if you throw something at them – some actually work, but most of it feels gimmicky. Some of it works, but most of it feels gimmicky.

ARHT Media has been working on holographic telepresence for years. The tech works – but I am still not sold that it is better than just having the person be there and not have to rely on any of these integration fads. Perhaps that is precisely the point – MR is best when it facilitates experiences that wouldn’t be possible any other way. Not when we want to be the high technology with our already existing experiences.

Let’s talk about what’s actually holding this back. The hardware is still clunky. Even the best headsets are heavy, expensive, and have limited battery life. The processing power required for convincing MR is enormous – you need to track the user’s position, understand the environment, render virtual objects, and make everything work together in real-time.

Motion sickness is still a problem. Not everyone gets it, but enough people do that it’s a real barrier to mass adoption. And don’t get me started on the social awkwardness of wearing a headset in public.

The content creation tools are getting better, but they’re still complicated and expensive. You need specialized skills to create good MR experiences, and there aren’t that many people who have them.

While everyone’s talking about the big tech companies, some of the most innovative work is happening in smaller studios. Mindesk might not be working on entertainment directly, but their approach to integrating MR with design tools like Rhino and SolidWorks is brilliant. They’re not trying to reinvent everything – they’re making existing workflows better.

That’s the approach that actually works. Instead of building everything from scratch, successful MR companies are finding ways to enhance what people already do.

So is MR the future of entertainment? Maybe, but probably not in the way most people expect. The technology will definitely improve – headsets will get lighter, processing will get faster, and content creation will get easier. But the real question is whether people actually want these experiences.

I think we’ll see MR succeed in specific niches before it becomes mainstream. Location-based entertainment like The Void’s experiences. Training and education applications. Design and collaboration tools. These are areas where MR solves real problems, not just creates cool demos.

The entertainment industry is notoriously slow to adopt new technologies unless they clearly improve the bottom line. MR will need to prove it can create experiences that people will pay for, not just experiences that look good in press releases.

After following this sector for years, I’m cautiously optimistic. The technology has finally advanced up to a point where it can create truly engaging experiences. But success won’t come from trying to replace existing entertainment – it’ll come from creating entirely new types of experiences that weren’t possible before.

The companies that will succeed are the ones who will find the best way to make MR feel natural and essential, rather than impressive and gimmicky. It will take time and there will be many missteps along the way.

But when someone finally cracks the code? When they create an MR experience that people genuinely can’t live without? That’s when we’ll know the future of entertainment has arrived.

If you’re considering getting into Mixed Reality development, now is an ok time to start. The tools are improving, the hardware is becoming more accessible, and there are still opportunities for originality. 

Our DevOps solutions can help you through the technical aspects so you don’t waste time trying to build something that works. Because we have seen it done done well and not well – we can stop you from trivial mistakes. The MR revolution may not be here yet, but it is coming.

The MR revolution might not be here yet, but it’s coming. The question is: will you be ready when it arrives?