Mixed Reality and the Restructuring of Social Spaces and Objective Reality

Mixed reality technologies, embodied in the new generations of smart glasses, herald a radical shift in the nature of social interactions and our surrounding urban environment. This technology does not merely offer an improved visual interface, but works to create overlapping layers of digital reality atop tangible physical reality. This continuous integration may lead in the long run to reformulating concepts of co-presence and direct human communication, and poses philosophical dilemmas about the definition of the "objective reality" shared among individuals. Therefore, cultural and social institutions bear the responsibility of studying the impact of these immersive technologies on societal cohesion and mental health, to ensure this technology does not result in isolating individuals within digital bubbles that separate them from their human and natural surroundings.