Who remembers disaster recovery plans and business continuity strategies? Big companies, especially banks and financial services, that owned and managed their own servers and corporate networks, had to have a complete physical backup site from which they could operate, if their headquarters suffered a major disaster.

Then came the cloud, virtual datacenters, and working from anywhere, as long as you were connected. The internet couldn’t collapse, not with giants like Google and Microsoft and Amazon, and their globally distributed server farms.

As long as you had a smartphone or tablet, and WiFi or mobile data, you were in business. And that’s fine for basic business systems, like information flows, orders and transactions; payments and deliveries; that sort of thing.

But how about backing up complex physical systems, with a ‘live’ digital replica? Take an aircraft engine, for example, or a space station module. Having an up-to-date digital twin allows technicians and engineers to troubleshoot problems and design upgrades, without inspecting the original equipment in an inaccessible location, like low earth orbit.

Using augmented reality platforms, we can now interact with our physical work objects, as well as their digital twins, augmented by layers of data. A technician can be guided by a holographic tutorial while they assemble an engine; a medical student can see and hear a digital replica of the patient’s heart beating, even while they are talking to them.

But more importantly, mixed reality means that we always have a backup plan. If there’s no time to catch a plane, we can meet, virtually, in the coffee shop next door. Or you can show me the cracks in that turbine, and I’ll help you fix them.

The Mirrorworld brings everything to life; it’s just like being there!