An attempt at definitions

What is XR?

This is the question I get asked the most.

The XR industry is still young.

Mainstream commercial VR didn’t come around until Quest 2 in 2020.

Since then, you can buy a VR headset without taking out a mortgage and have grandpa and grandma use it when they visited on holidays.

Yes, there was a Quest 1 but the production was limited.

Believe me, I tried to buy one. For months I waited.

PCVR, VR that needs a gaming computer to function, can’t be considered mainstream in any way.

The amount of money, physical space, and technical ability to set up the sensors and troubleshoot everything is out of reach for many people.

Also, the first AR hit was Pokemon Go in 2016.

We are seeing the dawn of a new industry.

So this will be my first of many attempts to explain the XR industry’s terms.

As the years go by and the industry changes, I will revisit these terms.

A definition of terms

VR = Virtual Reality

This is probably what everyone thinks about first. The Quest 2 headset brought VR into the mainstream.

With Virtual Reality, your eyes are covered with two screens that display a virtual world usually created with a game engine like Unity.

By shutting out the real world, your field of view becomes a canvas where anything can be displayed like a virtual world or blocks that need to be sliced with sabers made of light.

For now, this area is dominated by games, but I think in the future that most companies will use this technology for training and schools will use it for engaging lessons.

There are new headsets coming out in the near future. I am excited to see Meta’s Quest 3. Quest 2 was how I started using virtual reality, so it will be cool to see the improvements they can make on resolution and comfort.

This image is from an article written by Devindra Hardawar for Engadget in 2020 titled “Oculus Quest 2 review: The $299 VR headset to rule them all”. If you’d like to read that article click here.

AR = Augmented Reality

Pokemon Go brought AR into the mainstream. A game played by looking at the world through your smartphone to collect all those pocket monsters.

This technology uses the real world and then adds virtual objects on top so it looks like the virtual is in the real.

New glasses are coming out that let you see notifications and a large screen.

I think that once they are cheap enough, these glasses paired with a smartphone will become a more common sight especially if they can be combined with people’s prescription glasses or high-quality sunglasses.

Since these apps are mostly on mobile phones, they are much more accessible to the general population. Many companies are using these to show new furniture in a house and what clothes would look like before you buy them.

This image is from an article written by Pramath for Gaming Bolt in 2016 titled “Pokemon GO First Official Screenshots Released. If you’d like to read that article click here

MR = Mixed Reality

This is where things may get confusing. Mixed reality is a mix of physical objects in the real world and digital information laid on top.

Think about a table in an office.

With a Mixed Reality capable headset on, you would be able to use the table as a digital workspace.

With hand gestures, and possibly voice commands, you could pull up as many screens as you want all around you.

Let’s say you are creating a research paper. You could have a whiteboard for notes on the table.

Then you could have a screen for your word processor where you are typing with a digital keyboard.

On a few other screens, you could have research articles all highlighted for reference.

You could have 3D models scattered around the room that you could walk around as you planned your paper.

An AI avatar could stand next to you to collaborate on ideas.

On a screen as big as your wall, you could be watching lectures by leaders in your field of study.

Finally, you would be able to take a Zoom call on yet another screen.

All of this information is visible to you through your Mixed Reality headset.

If someone walked in on you, then they would only see you waving your hands around in an empty room.

Kind of funny thought right?

This area of XR is new, but Apple is releasing a Mixed Reality headset soon.

This is a video from Microsoft that gives a good visual of Mixed Reality.

XR = Extended Reality

This is a new term that is rather undefined at the moment.

In my preferred version, I like to think of it as “Extended Reality”.

This means that technology is extending our ability to perceive the world around us through visual data using some combination of virtual objects and the actual world with glasses.

Other people use the “X” in XR as a variable to swap in VR, AR, or MR.

Either way, this will be the term in the future because it is a broad term.

At the moment, technology is segmenting different apps based on hardware requirements. An AR app can run on your phone, but maybe a VR headset doesn’t have the lens to show the world well enough to use that same AR app.

A VR app can run on the Quest 2, but a smartphone doesn’t have the graphics horsepower or controls necessary.

In the near future, everything in this industry may simply be referred to as XR.

Final Thoughts

This covers the main terms used in the XR industry as much as I understand them.

If you think that this was useful for you please share it with your friends, family, and co-workers.

As I said earlier, this industry is new and changing all the time. The terms defined here may change in meaning or stop being used altogether.

Thank you for your time.

Until next time,

Sean