Immersive technologies keep breaking down the barriers between the real and virtual worlds, allowing us to experience things that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.

Even better: these technologies are settling more and more into the commercial and industrial sectors, revolutionizing the way we do things. Businesses are exploring ways they can leverage these new realities in order to solve problems, support new initiatives, improve their daily operations, refine their workforce and, in the long run, better themselves.

This accelerated development may seem a little puzzling at first. Although spatial computing related terms — Extended, Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality — are often used interchangeably and share common features, it’s their differences that make their strength. Each of these technologies present distinct characteristics, limitations, and benefits which, when applied to the right context, hold substantial power. 🌠

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Extended Reality (XR)

Extended Reality, or XR, is an umbrella term for all immersive technologies. The “X” in the acronym is a mobile variable that stands for any letter, while “Extended” refers to the fact that spatial technologies extend the boundaries of reality; either by combining the real and the virtual, or by creating a whole new reality. Thus, the term XR encompasses all technologies that merge a certain degree of immersion with computer-generated content, and human-machine interaction.

Of course, the gaming and entertainment industries were early adopters of these technologies; but now, many other fields benefit from them, such as education, engineering, safety and security, defence, healthcare, sports, design, and more.

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Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual Reality, or VR, is the most widely known of spatial computing technologies. A VR experience takes place in a 100% digital world; it offers a...

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