---
id: "concept-mixed-reality-training"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["¶6", "¶7", "§ A Transformation Across Industries", "§ Getting Started"]
tags: ["mixed-reality", "collaboration", "ai-visualization"]
related: ["concept-extended-reality", "framework-xr-modality-selection", "entity-accenture", "quote-complex-simplifies"]
definition: "A hybrid technology that anchors manipulatable virtual objects in the real world, optimal for collaborative problem-solving and visualizing AI workflows."
sources: ["reskilling"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-reskilling"
originDay: 10
articleStem: "hbr-edu-33-new-tools-workforce-training"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/12/the-new-tools-that-can-improve-workforce-training"
sourceTitle: "The New Tools That Can Improve Workforce Training"
---
# Mixed Reality (MR) for Collaborative Problem-Solving

## Mixed Reality (MR) for Collaborative Problem-Solving

**Mixed Reality (MR)** combines VR and AR: workers manipulate virtual objects that are **anchored in real-world locations**, keeping both digital models and physical reality (prototypes, colleagues) in view at once.

Within [[concept-extended-reality|XR]], MR is uniquely suited to **collaborative problem-solving, strategic thinking, and understanding complex systems** — including AI decision-making. Notably, the author highlights MR as the **best tool for AI upskilling**, because it lets employees see **AI workflows overlaid on their actual work environment**.

**Cited outcome:**
- [[entity-accenture-d10|Accenture]] consultants use MR to simulate virtual business models with clients, seeing both the client and the digital framework simultaneously.

MR embodies the source's central paradox — [[quote-complex-simplifies|the technology that makes work complex can also simplify learning if we choose the right XR approach]]. Per the [[framework-xr-modality-selection|selection matrix]], choose MR when teams must reason together over a shared model grounded in physical reality.

> **External validation & caveat:** Accenture's own materials document MR (e.g., HoloLens) for collaborative design, digital twins, and strategy workshops including AI-enabled systems, so the **use case is plausible and supported**. However, detailed empirical metrics (ROI, learning gains) for MR are **not widely available**, and MR carries the heaviest **content-creation and integration burden** of the three modalities — see [[question-content-creation-costs]] and [[appraisal-metrics-provenance]].