Extended reality (XR) is "a form of extended intelligence and extended collective intelligence ... [to] ... help extend our sensory intelligence on land, in air, or in water ... Unlike VR which is typically a solo experience, XR is a shared experience..." [1]. It is also widely used within ACM, IEEE, and many other organizations as an umbrella term to encompass virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mediated reality or mixed reality (MR), Metaverse, Internet of Things, and digital twin, "as the unifying framework that not only interpolates across these diverse realities but also extrapolates (extends) to create entirely new possibilities. XR is the physical spatial metaverse, bridging the physical world, the virtual world of artificial intelligence, and the social world of human interaction" [2][3].
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This unifying framework of XR also includes education[4], Human-Computer Interaction as a physical metaverse[5], and communication studies[6] with immersion[7] beyond the metaverse[8].
In particular, XR embodies a capacity to go beyond VR and AR, facilitating a greater multiplicity of possibilities in our relationship with technology[9].
Whereas XR is an umbrella term that includes, and interpolates between, AR, VR, Metaverse, Spatial Computing, Physical Computing, etc., it also extrapolates beyond, to allow us to extend our senses to see and understand physical phenomena like sound waves and radio waves. An example of XR in this extrapolative (i.e. "meta" as "beyond") sense is the SWIM (Sequential Wave Imprinting Machine), an XR device that works on land, in air, or underwater[10], extending our perception into multidimensional realities.
The technology can combine or mirror the physical world with a "digital twin world" able to interact with it,[11][12] giving users an immersive experience by being in a virtual or augmented environment.
The fields of virtual reality and augmented reality are rapidly growing and being applied in a wide range of areas such as entertainment, cinema, marketing, real estate, training, education, maintenance[13] and remote work.[14] Extended reality has the ability to be used for joint effort in the workplace, training, educational purposes, therapeutic treatments, and data exploration and analysis.
Extended reality works by using visual data acquisition that is either accessed locally or shared and transfers over a network and to the human senses. By enabling real-time responses in a virtual stimulus these devices create customized experiences. Advancing in 5G and edge computing – a type of computing that is done "at or near the source of data" – could aid in data rates, increase user capacity, and reduce latency. These applications will likely expand extended reality into the future.
Around one-third of the global extended reality market is attributed to Europe.[citation needed]
In 2018 the BBC launched a research project to capture and document the barriers present in extended reality environments.[15]
See also
edit- Computer-mediated reality – Ability to manipulate one's perception of reality through the use of a computer
- Head-mounted display – Type of display device
- Immersion (virtual reality) – Perception of being physically present in a non-physical world
- Metaverse – Collective three-dimensional virtual shared space
- On-set virtual production – Technology for television and film production
- OpenXR – Standard for access to virtual reality and augmented reality platforms and devices
- Reality–virtuality continuum – Concept in computer science
- Smartglasses – Wearable computer glasses
- Spatial computing – Computing paradigm emphasizing 3D spatial interaction with technology
- Wearable computer – Small computing device worn on the body
- WebXR – Experimental JavaScript API for augmented/virtual reality devices
References
edit- ^ Extended Reality, S. Mann and C. Wyckoff, MIT 4-405, 1991, also available at http://wearcam.org/xr.htm
- ^ Mann, S., Cooper, M., Ferren, B., Coughlin, T. M., & Travers, P. (2024). Advancing Technology for Humanity and Earth (+ Water+ Air). arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.00074, also available at https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.00074
- ^ CES / IEEE ICCE Industry Panel, Session 3: Mersivity: Wearable AI and Spatial XR for Humanity and Earth, Las Vegas, NV, USA. (10:45 AM – 12:15 PM – Jan. 13, 2025), also available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr-Oq5bvVL0
- ^ Foster, S., Barth, L., & Chaudhry, Z. (2024). Virtual Gathering Platforms in Academic Teaching: Potential and Applications. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 22(3), 124-140.
- ^ Florian'Floyd'Mueller, et al. "Grand challenges in WaterHCI." CHI. 2024.
- ^ Uğurluer, Simge, and Mert Seven. "A bibliometric analysis of extended reality research trends in communication studies written in English: Mapping the increasing adoption of extended reality technologies." Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences 66 (2024): 147-181.
- ^ Hoffmann, Peter. "The Merging of Worlds and… of Immersion." Next Generation Internet: The Merging of Reality and Virtuality in the Metaverse. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2025. 25-77.
- ^ Heemsbergen, Luke. "Reality after the Metaverse." Digital Frontiers-Healthcare, Education, and Society in the Metaverse Era: Healthcare, Education, and Society in the Metaverse Era (2024): 3.
- ^ Rubio Tamayo, Jose Luis. "Realidad extendida, interactividad y entornos inmersivos 3d: Revisión de la literatura y proyecciones." Icono 14-VII Congreso Internacional Ciudades Creativas, 2019.
- ^ Lu, Hao. The Multiscale Essence of Multimediated Reality. University of Toronto (Canada), 2018.
- ^ Tu, Xinyi (2023). "TwinXR: Method for using digital twin descriptions in industrial eXtended reality applications". Frontiers in Virtual Reality. 4. doi:10.3389/frvir.2023.1019080. ISSN 2673-4192.
- ^ Casini, Marco (2022). "Extended Reality for Smart Building Operation and Maintenance: A Review". Energies. 15 (10): 3785. doi:10.3390/en15103785. hdl:11573/1637935. ISSN 1996-1073.
- ^ Coupry, Corentin (2021). "BIM-Based Digital Twin and XR Devices to Improve Maintenance Procedures in Smart Buildings: A Literature Review". Applied Sciences. 11 (15): 6810. doi:10.3390/app11156810. ISSN 2076-3417.
- ^ Chuah, Stephanie Hui-Wen (2018). "Why and Who Will Adopt Extended Reality Technology? Literature Review, Synthesis, and Future Research Agenda". SSRN 3300469.
- ^ "XR Barriers Research - Accessibility for Products - BBC". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
Sources
edit- Vinod Baya; Erik Sherman. "The road ahead for augmented reality". pwc.
- Pereira, Fernando. "Deep Learning-Based Extended Reality: Making Humans and Machines Speak the Same Visual Language." In Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Interactive eXtended Reality, 1–2. IXR ’22. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1145/3552483.3555366.
- United States Government Accountability Office. Extended Reality Technologies. Science & Tech Spotlight. Washington, D.C: GAO, Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics, 2022.
- Boel, Carl, Kim Dekeyser, Fien Depaepe, Luis Quintero, Tom van Daele, and Brenda Wiederhold. Extended Reality: Opportunities, Success Stories and Challenges (Health, Education) : Executive Summary. Luxembourg: Publications Office, 2023. https://op.europa.eu/publication/manifestation_identifier/PUB_KK0722997ENN.
- Sayler, Kelley M. "Military Applications of Extended Reality." IF 12010. Washington, D.C: Congressional Research Service, 2022.
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