Hello everyone!

Wow, it’s hard to believe that we are two months into 2018.

Every January I head to Brazil to visit my family. It is a wonderful stretch of connection, reflection, and time with those closest to me. During this annual trip I think a lot about the year that was and the year that will be. I always return inspired, focused, and eager for what’s next.

TL;DR: We have some exciting work planned for 2018 that I can’t wait to share in the coming months.

On that note, I am frequently asked by customers, partners, developers, analysts, and many others – “what does 2018 look like for the MR, AR, and VR industry?” No doubt that this is an exciting time. Innovation abounds! Usage is increasing steadily and we are seeing transformative experiences that are redefining how we work, communicate, learn and play.

So, what does this year hold? In the coming months I believe three key trends will define our industry.

TREND 1: MR + AI

Mixed Reality and Artificial Intelligence (MR+AI) are among the key technology shifts that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella describes as defining the future of computing. Today with HoloLens, MR+AI solutions are helping customers do things that were previously impossible. The ability to blend the physical and digital worlds in mixed reality enables us to build experiences where people, places and things become independent of their physical location and can interact with their digital counterparts. Artificial Intelligence further drives these experiences, giving us superpowers over space and time.

We announced last July that the next version of HoloLens will further incorporate AI into our custom silicon in the HoloLens the Holographic Processing Unit or HPU for short. This continues our journey of enabling computers to truly perceive their environments, and we’re just beginning. The computing power delivered by the cloud is one of the catalysts accelerating AI, and this is the year that the mixed reality cloud becomes real. Cloud-assisted AI for understanding physical objects is happening today. Combining this with mixed reality will enable us to deliver persistent mixed reality experiences with people, places, and things.

TREND 2: AR + VR

Since day one we have been focused on a mixed reality journey that embraces AR and VR experiences; so that you can have the best of both worlds. The key premise here is choice. Choice for customers and an opportunity for our partners, connected with a single platform that can target the whole spectrum.

At Build 2017 we put together a demonstration with our partners at Cirque du Soleil, and I think that was a good representation for how MR brings AR and VR solutions together. There will be times when someone will be wearing HoloLens and working in mixed reality. They may decide that they need or want to communicate with someone else by having them teleport in, and a virtual reality headset can give someone the ability to do that.

There is also tremendous value in using mixed reality to collaborate and co-create in the most immersive way possible. Sometimes you can’t stand shoulder to shoulder with someone, but the work you are doing requires that level of proximity. More than just a shared communication experience, you require presence. Mixed reality allows you to be present and spatially understand things, even when people are not physically in the same space.

TREND 3: Immersive Communication

Today's experiences can be lonely and isolated . Future MR experiences we create must be shareable. For me, the killer app will be social communication; experiences that tear down the walls of isolation. I believe that mixed reality has the power to connect people in compelling and meaningful ways. From our work life to our personal life, communication and presence is the fabric that ties us together.

As someone who works with people across the globe, there is great power in being present. We know that one of the challenges many employers and employees face is that it can be hard for people to be in the same place at the same time. Mixed reality gives us the ability to transcend time and space, and in the near future you’ll be able to communicate in a manner that is more immersive than ever before.

I also think about how mixed reality will change the way I communicate in my personal life. Space and cost are limitless in mixed reality. As a father with a 7-year old daughter, with most of my family living in Brazil, I love imagining a reality where she can interact with my entire family on the weekends, to play a board game around the table with all her cousins across the globe in a socially present and immersive way.

Our work with AltspaceVR is just the beginning. You will see us bring this innovation forward in new ways.

There will be a lot more to share in the coming months. Watch this space for regular updates from me and others on our team.

In the meantime, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me on Twitter, and please continue to share your creative ideas and stories with us. It always makes our day!

Talk soon!

Alex