Microsoft is bringing mixed reality to the classroom with View Mixed Reality

Microsoft believes that mixed reality isn’t a gimmick, or white elephant technology, but rather something that will have a transformative impact on the classroom.

Today, at its Microsoft Education event in New York, it announced View Mixed Reality. This new feature allows an individual to dynamically insert 3D imagery into a real-time video input, namely from a webcam.

Microsoft envisions that educators will use View Mixed Reality in the classroom to provide visual context to lessons. On stage, Microsoft General Manager Megan Saunders demonstrated how a lesson about NASA’s Curiosity rover could be enhanced by virtually inserting the vehicle into a real-time video feed in order to give the student context about its size.

View Mixed Reality is scheduled to arrive in the fall, and has low hardware requirements. The company says it will work on any Windows 10 device with an RGB camera, such as a webcam.

This isn’t Microsoft’s only mixed reality effort. HoloLens also got an honorable mention, with Saunders demonstrating how it could be used within academic contexts, particularly in lieu of field trips.

HoloLens also got a shot in the arm thanks to education giant Pearson announcing four new mixed reality courses for secondary and university-level classes, centered around commerce, health, history, and STEM.