Extended Reality (XR)
Holograms & Experiential
Digital Twins, BIM & AI
Industrial & Vocational Simulators
EHS Safety VR Modules
Defense, Medical & EdTech Labs
Case studies
Company
Plain-English definitions of the XR terms used on this site, from 6DoF to OpenUSD. Each term is explained the way we explain it to clients on a first call.
01 — Company
Tracking that follows head rotation only: looking up, down and around. It suits seated 360° video.
Tracking that follows head rotation and position, so users can lean, crouch and walk.
Digital objects shown over a live camera view of the real world, usually on a phone.
A 3D model of a real asset linked to data from it, such as sensor readings or maintenance records.
The umbrella term for virtual, augmented and mixed reality.
How much of the scene a headset shows at once, measured in degrees.
Vibration or force through a controller that confirms a touch, grab or press.
The technical name for a VR or MR headset.
A laser method that measures distance to millions of points, used for 3D scanning.
A broad term for shared, persistent 3D spaces online. Definitions vary, so ask what a vendor means by it.
Digital objects anchored to a mapped real room, usually seen through a headset's passthrough cameras.
The delay between a head movement and the display updating. Comfort research commonly cites under 20 milliseconds.
An open 3D scene format, first developed by Pixar, used by NVIDIA Omniverse and many design tools.
A headset showing the real world through its cameras, so digital content can be mixed in.
Building a 3D model from many overlapping photos of an object or place.
How many times per second a display redraws, in hertz. At 90 Hz, each frame has 11.1 milliseconds.
Sound placed at its source in 3D space, so users can tell where it comes from.
A VR headset with its own processor and battery, such as Meta Quest 3, that needs no PC.
A fully computer-generated environment shown in a headset that replaces the user's view.
A browser standard that lets websites use VR headsets and AR phones directly.
02 — In depth
Tracking measures how a headset or controller moves. 3DoF tracking follows rotation only, while 6DoF also follows position, so users can lean and walk.
Inside-out tracking uses cameras on the headset itself. Outside-in tracking uses sensors placed around the room.
Locomotion is how users move through a virtual space, such as teleporting or walking. Good locomotion keeps users comfortable.
Refresh rate is how often a display redraws, in hertz. Frame rate is how often the app draws a new image, and the two should match.
Field of view is how much of the scene a headset shows. Latency is the delay between movement and the display updating.
Low frame rates and high latency both make users uncomfortable, so we test both on every build.
A standalone headset, such as Meta Quest 3, has its own processor and battery. A PC VR headset connects to a computer for more graphics power.
Passthrough shows the real world through the headset's cameras. It makes mixed reality possible.
Spatial computing devices, such as Apple Vision Pro, focus on apps that use the space around the user.
Hand tracking lets users interact with their hands, without controllers. Eye tracking follows where the user looks.
Haptic feedback uses vibration to confirm a touch or press. Spatial audio places sound in 3D, so users hear where it comes from.
Photogrammetry builds a 3D model from overlapping photos. LiDAR and laser scanning measure distance to millions of points.
A point cloud is the raw set of measured points. A mesh is a surface built from them, and textures add colour.
Scan to BIM turns scans of existing buildings into BIM models for design work.
OpenUSD is an open 3D scene format, used by NVIDIA Omniverse and many design tools. The glTF format is compact and common on the web.
LOD, or level of detail, swaps simpler models in at a distance. That keeps scenes fast on phones and headsets.
Unity and Unreal Engine are real-time 3D engines used to build most VR and AR apps. Unity suits standalone headsets and phones, while Unreal suits high-end visuals.
WebXR is a browser standard for VR and AR. three.js is a popular library for 3D on the web.
Pixel Streaming runs a high-end scene on a server and streams it to a browser.
ARKit and ARCore are the AR frameworks on Apple and Android phones. They track surfaces, images and light.
WebAR runs AR in the phone's browser from a link or QR code. Occlusion hides virtual objects behind real ones, which makes them look grounded.
A hologram box shows video of a person or product with a sense of depth, with no headset needed. Content is filmed against black.
360° video records a full sphere with a multi-lens camera. Stitching joins the lens feeds into one image.
Projection mapping fits content to an uneven surface, such as a building, so it becomes a display.
A digital twin is a 3D model linked to data from a real asset. An LMS is a learning management system that stores training records.
SCORM and xAPI are standards for sending training results from a VR module to an LMS.
A DPR, or detailed project report, defines a project before funding and tendering. An AMC is an annual maintenance contract.
Turnkey means one supplier delivers the whole project, from design to installation.
03 — FAQs
VR replaces the user's view with a virtual world. AR adds digital objects to a camera view of the real world. MR anchors digital objects to a mapped room, and XR is the umbrella term for all three.
Six degrees of freedom means the headset tracks rotation and position. Users can look around, lean, crouch and walk, and the view responds naturally. Most modern standalone headsets support 6DoF.
A hologram box shows video with a strong sense of depth inside a lit enclosure. Scientific holography records light differently. In events and marketing, hologram usually means the display effect, not scientific holography.
Not exactly. Metaverse is a broad term for shared, persistent 3D spaces online, which can be used in VR or on screens. Definitions vary, so ask any vendor what they mean by it.
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