Mixed reality (MR) is rapidly becoming a vital tool, not just in gaming, but also in education, medicine, construction and environmental management. The term refers to systems in which computer-generated content is superimposed over objects in a real-world environment across one or
more sensory modalities. Although most of us have heard of the use of MR in computer games, it also has applications in military and aviation training, as well as tourism, healthcare and more. In addition, it has the potential for use in architecture and design, where buildings can be superimposed
in existing locations to render 3D generations of plans. However, one major challenge that remains in MR development is the issue of real-time occlusion. This refers to hiding 3D virtual objects behind real articles. Dr Tomohiro Fukuda, who is based at the Division of Sustainable Energy and
Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka University in Japan, is an expert in this field. Researchers, led by Dr Tomohiro Fukuda, are tackling the issue of occlusion in MR. They are currently developing a MR system that realises real-time occlusion by harnessing deep
learning to achieve an outdoor landscape design simulation using a semantic segmentation technique. This methodology can be used to automatically estimate the visual environment prior to and after construction projects.
