January 15th, 2023. The third day of Pongal celebrations continues as I peek through the windows of my Pooja room. It’s a Sunday evening, and the street seems sparsely crowded.

On the corner of my right eye, I see the weather update that says “Clear 23°c”. On the left corner I see the time — “7:45 pm”, and there are a couple virtual objects hovering in front of me, in my line of sight. I am wearing a pair of SMART GLASSES.

A technology that is taking the world by storm, the post-era of Smart Phones.

Everything is 3D now; Virtual Objects Everywhere

Mind-blowing virtual objects, like an elephant in your palm. Photo: Magic Leap

One of those virtual objects is a cube. There’s some text on top of the cube that says — “Either touch the cube or just ask your virtual assistant Shauna, ‘what is the significance of Pongal?’” I promptly do that.

Instantly, there appear a couple more cubes, a globe-like structure and one large TV screen. I could actually walk around these virtual objects to see them from every angle — like they were physically there, hanging in the air. All of them are 3 Dimensional (3D).

Virtual Objects are High Resolution

These virtual objects are vivid and seem to have no pixels. The moment I ‘touch’ a cube — a blog article explaining what Pongal is shows up. I am too lazy to read the whole thing, so I just glance through the headers, look at the images and call upon Shauna. “Shauna, play a video of how Pongal is celebrated in the Indian villages.” I say.

It’s magical. The virtual TV screen, which is at least 50 inches diagonally starts playing a video. And I could drag and drop that huge screen on to a wall and it just “sticks” there. I watch the whole 3-minute video, seems like a lifetime to me. I’ve become so impatient.

Touch, Tap, Zoom and Interact with Virtual Objects in the Real World

I, then walk around the virtual object that seems like a globe. Interestingly there are patches of bright yellow, more like a glow in the various places across the globe. I “touch” a yellow patch that seems to be highlighting South Africa.

Immediately, there’s a virtual character of a girl — a cartoon, if you may, that pops up and introduces herself as Uma. Apparently Uma is going to walk me through on how Pongal is celebrated in South Africa, and then any other place I may choose on the virtual globe.

Virtual Characters to educate and entertain you. Photo: Magic Leap

It’s just awesome.

Welcome to a New World — A Mixed Reality World

“You’ll never change, remove those glasses and get started with the Pooja. In the past, it was your laptop and the smart phone. You’d at least take a break once in a while back then. But now, the glasses are always on and you’re in a different world. “ That’s my wife Geetha, yelling from the kitchen.

You know what, I do the wise thing. I do not argue with my wife.

I remove the glasses, and get back to the real world — which to me now, is absolutely boring.

I feel like Neo (Keanu Reeves) from my all-time favorite movie The Matrix, when I put my glasses on.

Neo, from The Matrix

Welcome to the real world, where everything around you is now mixed with information and virtual objects.

Embrace yourself and get ready for the world of Mixed Reality!