Reports suggest that technology that merges the virtual and physical world would become a reality for consumers soon in accordance with the vision for the creation of the metaverse.

Mixed reality (MR) technology allows a person wearing an MR headset to use a real world object to trigger a virtual world reaction, like hitting a video game character with a real world baseball bat, for instance.

Besides, it is one among the three types of extended reality technologies often associated with the metaverse. Augmented reality exists, with mobile games like Pokemon Go, but players cannot affect the digital world with a physical object. Virtual reality headsets, like Meta's Oculus, immerse users into a fully virtual world where they can interact with the environment.

According to the reports, the comments from Meta came on a Zoom call, which was scheduled to help advertisers better understand the metaverse. It was Meta's first roundtable discussion with agencies about the metaverse.

The plan of mixed reality brings supplementary detail to the timeline of building the metaverse, the revolutionary idea of a network of virtual worlds that can be accessed from different devices, which could take a decade to build, according to the reports.

As per the reports, some mixed reality headsets are available, but are not yet geared toward general consumers. Microsoft's HoloLens 2, which was introduced in 2019, retails for $3,500 and is geared for workplace use.

At Meta’s annual Connect conference in October, it announced Project Cambria, a headset that features mixed reality capabilities and includes face and eye tracking. The headset is expected to be released this year.

In addition, Meta continued to advise advertisers to experiment with augmented reality ads, such as photo and video filters that overlay digital images onto the real world, according to the reports.