WHEN MIXED REALITY MEETS INTERNET OF THINGS: Toward the Realization of Ubiquitous Mixed Reality

From panoramic paintings and stereoscopic photos in the early 19th century, there has been a century-long effort to realize mixed reality, interweaving real and virtual worlds that interact with each other. Recently, over the past few years, we have witnessed the first wave of "affordable" mixed reality platforms, such as Oculus Rift and Microsoft HoloLens hitting the market. In particular, 2017 was the showcase year of mixed reality technologies: The Academy awarded its first Oscar to virtual reality storytelling(1); AAA caliber virtual reality games started to hit the market with impacts(2). Furthermore, major mobile operating systems, including Android and iOS, began to support augmented reality at the platform level (e.g., Android ARCore, Apple ARKit). Looking down the road, a recent forecast by Orbis Research projects over $40 billion mixed reality market worldwide by 2020(3).