The launch of the Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro gave mainstream visibility to mixed reality — the idea that digital content can be overlaid on the real world through camera passthrough on a headset. Suddenly, the XR conversation shifted. Full VR immersion started to feel like the old way. Mixed reality was the future.

But if you’re a business trying to decide where to invest, the hype cycle isn’t helpful. The useful question isn’t which technology is “better.” It’s which one solves your specific problem.

Defining the Terms

Full VR blocks out the real world entirely. You’re in a completely synthetic environment. This is what most people picture when they think of virtual reality.

Mixed Reality (MR) blends digital content with a view of your real surroundings, typically through colour passthrough cameras on the headset. You see your actual room with virtual objects placed in it.

The key difference for business is context. Full VR is about creating an entirely new context. MR is about augmenting your existing one.

Where Full VR Wins

Immersive training. If you’re training someone for a high-stakes scenario — emergency response, hazardous materials handling, surgical procedures — you want their full attention in the simulated environment. Seeing their actual office through the headset defeats the purpose. Full VR creates the psychological presence that makes training feel real and helps with knowledge retention.

Australian mining companies have been early adopters here. Underground mine simulations in full VR let workers practice emergency evacuation procedures in realistic conditions. The sense of claustrophobia and urgency that makes the training effective requires complete immersion.

Design and creative review. Architects, automotive designers, and product teams use full VR to review designs at scale. Walking through a building that hasn’t been built yet, sitting inside a car interior that exists only as CAD data — these experiences are most valuable when the virtual environment is all you see. Real-world visual noise is a distraction.

Therapeutic applications. As VR-based therapy expands in Australian healthcare settings, full immersion is often a clinical requirement. Exposure therapy for phobias, pain distraction during procedures, and mindfulness environments all depend on shutting out the real world.

Where Mixed Reality Wins

Collaborative work sessions. When a team is in the same room reviewing a 3D model, MR lets everyone see the model on the table while still making eye contact and reading body language. Full VR isolates people from each other. For design reviews, sales presentations, and planning sessions, MR preserves the human dynamics that matter.

On-site guidance. A technician repairing equipment needs to see the actual machine. MR can overlay instructions, highlight components, and show step-by-step procedures on top of the real hardware. Full VR would require a digital twin of every piece of equipment, which is impractical for most organisations.

Desk-based productivity. Apple’s positioning of the Vision Pro as a productivity device makes more sense in MR than VR. If you’re working with virtual screens alongside your physical keyboard and coffee cup, you want to see your real environment. Nobody wants to type on a keyboard they can’t see.

Visitor and client experiences. Asking someone to strap on a headset and lose all awareness of their surroundings is a big ask, especially in professional settings. MR is less confronting. Clients can see virtual product models on a real conference table without feeling isolated or disoriented.

The Enterprise Decision Framework

When Australian businesses ask me which direction to go, I suggest starting with three questions:

1. Does the user need to forget where they are? If the value comes from being somewhere else — a training scenario, a design environment, a therapeutic setting — full VR is the right call.

2. Does the user need to interact with real objects? If they need to see and touch physical things while accessing digital information, MR is the obvious choice.

3. How long will they wear it? Full VR sessions are mentally taxing and typically limited to 30-60 minutes. MR can be worn for longer periods more comfortably because the real-world grounding reduces fatigue and motion discomfort.

The firms getting the best results from XR tend to work with specialists who understand AI and immersive technology rather than trying to figure it all out internally. The technology decisions are less about hardware specs and more about understanding workflow integration, which requires broader expertise.

The Hardware Reality

The Quest 3 is currently the sweet spot for most business applications. It does both full VR and passthrough MR reasonably well at a price point (around $750 AUD) that doesn’t require executive sign-off. Its MR passthrough is good enough for most overlay use cases, though the resolution and colour accuracy aren’t perfect.

The Apple Vision Pro does MR exceptionally well, with the best passthrough quality available. But at roughly $6,000 AUD, it’s a harder sell for fleet deployment. It also doesn’t do full VR as convincingly, partly by design — Apple clearly sees spatial computing as an MR-first paradigm.

For organisations that need high-fidelity full VR, PC-connected headsets like the Varjo series remain the gold standard, though at enterprise pricing.

The Practical Answer

Most businesses don’t need to choose one or the other. The same Quest 3 headset can run full VR training simulations in the morning and MR-assisted design reviews in the afternoon. The question isn’t which technology to buy — it’s which modality suits each use case.

The mistake I see most often is organisations assuming that because MR is newer, it’s automatically better for everything. It’s not. Full VR still has clear advantages for deep immersion scenarios. And MR has clear advantages for augmented workflow scenarios.

Match the tool to the task. It’s not complicated, but it does require thinking carefully about what you’re actually trying to achieve rather than chasing the latest trend.