Holographic teachers were supposed to be part of our future. What happened?

[Extract] Cast your mind back to the turn of last century. Experts predicted that by now classrooms would no longer feature human teachers, and holographic virtual entities would deliver lessons instead.

This certainly hasn’t happened. The closest we have come is group video chat via apps like FaceTime, Zoom or Google Hangouts. But this doesn’t mean holograms aren’t part of our lives – they’re just marketed differently.

For the past 20 years, researchers and companies have progressed with a vision of “mixed reality”, where the physical and digital blend together to create seamless, digitally enhanced experiences.

Initially limited to research labs and prototypes, we have seen a major increase in the use of mixed reality technology in recent years. And it’s of particular use in classroom settings.