VR, AR, MR, XR: Which reality is the best?
Making sense of our many realities
Virtual Reality (VR)
Virtual reality is the OG. When people think of immersive computer-generated experiences beyond just gaming on a giant TV, VR is probably what comes to mind the most.
Virtual reality generally refers to a fully immersive experience — replacing the real world with a fully computer-generated one. Typically, experiencing VR requires wearing an opaque headset that blocks your eyes from the real world. This generally counts even if the VR headset is creating a simulacrum of your surroundings. Some VR headsets, for instance, are able to project aspects of the real world into your field of view using headset-mounted cameras.
Basically, if you strap on something onto your face and can’t see out of it until you turn it on, that’s VR.
Examples:Oculus Rift/Go, HTC Vive, Google Cardboard, Nintendo Virtual Boy
Now things are getting a little muddier, but in general, AR is the counterpart to VR. While VRreplacesthe real world with computer-generated imagery, AR instead seeks to, erm,augmentthe real world with virtual experiences.
Therefore, when you’re experiencing AR, your perception is still guided by real-world objects and events.
Google Glass remains a classic example of AR
Unlike VR, AR doesn’t require you to be fully immersed in a headset — or use a headset at all, for that matter. If you’ve used a Snapchat filter, you’ve used a form of AR.
There are a number of apps now that allow you to superimpose 3D models onto an image of the real world — say, if you want to see how that armchair you’ve been eyeing will fit in your living room.
Augmented reality doesn’t have to happen through a headset.
Augmented reality may not require sight either — some might consider location-based audio cues to be a form of augmented reality.
Examples:Pokemon GO, Google Glass, Magic Leap, Vuzix Blade
Mixed Reality (MR) and Extended Reality (XR)
I’m grouping these two together because depending on who you ask, these could be the same thing… or have more specific definitions. But in general, these are the two terms most often used as the over-arching terminology to encompass all computer-generated immersive experiences.
Microsoft, for example, is fond of the term mixed reality as a term for all digitally-enhanced events — both AR and VR. This implies that reality and virtuality exist on a spectrum — the aptly-namedreality-virtuality continuum— and has its roots in academic research for decades. It was coined by researchers Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino ina 1994 paper.
On one end, you have the real world as the cave folk experienced it, free from any digital nonsense. On the other end, you have a completely virtual experience, where your senses are fully immersed in a virtual environment — this is closer to straight-up living in the Matrix.
Mixed reality is everything between these two extremes, so it generally works for both AR and VR. That includes devices that offer both technologies in one; you can imagine a headset that is transparent for augmented experiences, but can go opaque when the user wants to be fully immersed.
There are some even more complex and specific definitions for mixed reality, but the above should suffice for most of the time you encounter the term.
So what about extended reality (XR), then? Well… in most situations, it pretty much means the same thing.
That said, XR has gained some traction the last few years and is often defined more broadly; it’s also supposed to also cover all possible ‘R’s we haven’t even thought of yet. Mixed reality, while including AR and VR, tends to be a bit more associated with the former (perhaps due to Microsoft’s HoloLens).
Still, MR appears to be the more popular term overall:
It’s also worth noting that we’ve generally been talking about replacing or adding to reality, but some researchers are also studyingremovingstuff from reality. This could be used, for example, to focus on a particular subject in an environment while ignoring others. The term ‘mediated reality’ is sometimes used to describe both computer-generated interactions that add to our perception, as well as those that remove from it.
In general though, you’ll see MR and XR as the most common umbrella terms, as they most reflect the experiences consumers will buy into. Which one ends up being more popular remains to be seen. I’m a fan of mixed reality due to its history, but extended reality seems to be a little easier to explain since people don’t get hung up on the ‘mixed’ part.
In any case, I’d bet whatever Apple uses to describeits rumored headsetwill be the term that sticks around.
Examples of MR and XR:Microsoft HoloLens, pretty much all VR and AR headsets and experiences
Story byNapier Lopez
Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He’s interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in(show all)Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He’s interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in his free time. Follow himon Twitter.
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Augmented Reality (AR)
Now things are getting a little muddier, but in general, AR is the counterpart to VR. While VRreplacesthe real world with computer-generated imagery, AR instead seeks to, erm,augmentthe real world with virtual experiences.
Therefore, when you’re experiencing AR, your perception is still guided by real-world objects and events.
Google Glass remains a classic example of AR
Unlike VR, AR doesn’t require you to be fully immersed in a headset — or use a headset at all, for that matter. If you’ve used a Snapchat filter, you’ve used a form of AR.
There are a number of apps now that allow you to superimpose 3D models onto an image of the real world — say, if you want to see how that armchair you’ve been eyeing will fit in your living room.
Augmented reality doesn’t have to happen through a headset.
Augmented reality may not require sight either — some might consider location-based audio cues to be a form of augmented reality.
Examples:Pokemon GO, Google Glass, Magic Leap, Vuzix Blade
I’m grouping these two together because depending on who you ask, these could be the same thing… or have more specific definitions. But in general, these are the two terms most often used as the over-arching terminology to encompass all computer-generated immersive experiences.
Microsoft, for example, is fond of the term mixed reality as a term for all digitally-enhanced events — both AR and VR. This implies that reality and virtuality exist on a spectrum — the aptly-namedreality-virtuality continuum— and has its roots in academic research for decades. It was coined by researchers Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino ina 1994 paper.
On one end, you have the real world as the cave folk experienced it, free from any digital nonsense. On the other end, you have a completely virtual experience, where your senses are fully immersed in a virtual environment — this is closer to straight-up living in the Matrix.
Mixed reality is everything between these two extremes, so it generally works for both AR and VR. That includes devices that offer both technologies in one; you can imagine a headset that is transparent for augmented experiences, but can go opaque when the user wants to be fully immersed.
There are some even more complex and specific definitions for mixed reality, but the above should suffice for most of the time you encounter the term.
So what about extended reality (XR), then? Well… in most situations, it pretty much means the same thing.
That said, XR has gained some traction the last few years and is often defined more broadly; it’s also supposed to also cover all possible ‘R’s we haven’t even thought of yet. Mixed reality, while including AR and VR, tends to be a bit more associated with the former (perhaps due to Microsoft’s HoloLens).
Still, MR appears to be the more popular term overall:
It’s also worth noting that we’ve generally been talking about replacing or adding to reality, but some researchers are also studyingremovingstuff from reality. This could be used, for example, to focus on a particular subject in an environment while ignoring others. The term ‘mediated reality’ is sometimes used to describe both computer-generated interactions that add to our perception, as well as those that remove from it.
In general though, you’ll see MR and XR as the most common umbrella terms, as they most reflect the experiences consumers will buy into. Which one ends up being more popular remains to be seen. I’m a fan of mixed reality due to its history, but extended reality seems to be a little easier to explain since people don’t get hung up on the ‘mixed’ part.
In any case, I’d bet whatever Apple uses to describeits rumored headsetwill be the term that sticks around.
Examples of MR and XR:Microsoft HoloLens, pretty much all VR and AR headsets and experiences
