xR, VR, AR, MR…….
eXtended Reality (XR) is a ‘catch-all’ term for technologies that enhance or replace our view of the real world. This is mostly through overlaying or immersing computer text and graphics into real-world and virtual environments, or a combination of both.
XR encompasses augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR).
AR enhances our view of the real world by overlaying with computer generated information. So we start with a camera view of the real world and then add to it an overlay of some extra information, text, pictures, whatever. It’s a bit like adding a glass in front with the extra information.
VR completely replaces a user’s view with a computer generated content. Nothing real there.
MR sits somewhere between AR and VR, as it merges the real and virtual worlds. So imagine an object in the real world, an imaginary object is introduced, it would add it’s own shadows to the real world, and has the possibility of being ‘occluded’ (i.e. blocked) by other real objects in the scene if positioned behind.
