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Characteristics, Benefits, and an Explicative Insight on Extended Reality (XR)

Manisha Vohra

Independent Researcher, India

Abstract

Extended reality (XR) technologies are evolving greatly. They are being included in different sectors. There are various possibilities with XR. This chapter will help to understand the concept of XR. It will provide a brief insight to XR. Also, the important events in the history of XR are discussed. Along with it, its characteristics and the benefits it provides are explained in this chapter.

Keywords: Extended reality (XR), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), immersive technologies, virtual environment, real world

2.1 Introduction

Extended reality is also referred to as XR. It is a blanket term which includes different immersive technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). Extended reality, as the name suggests, is a blanket term which is inclusive of immersive technologies like AR, VR, and MR that can extend the reality by bringing together or blending the real world and the virtual world. Extended reality is not limited to just these three immersive technologies. If any other new immersive technology gets created in the future which can extend the reality via blending the real world and the virtual world or by the creation of a complete virtual environment, then it will also be counted and included in XR. Hence, it is a blanket term which comprises different immersive technologies.

2.1.1 Augmented Reality

Augmented reality, abbreviated as AR, is an experience wherein there is overlaying of digital information on the real world. This experience lets the user view the real world with different digital details such as animation, images, etc.

Unlike virtual reality which is a simulated three-dimensional environment generated via the help of a computer, augmented reality is where there is overlaying of digital information on the real world. The experience of the real world that the user will have will be enriched.

2.1.2 Virtual Reality

Virtual reality, which is abbreviated as VR, is a simulated three-dimensional environment generated with the help of a computer where the users can interact with the virtual surrounding by using specialized equipment like headset, sensor comprising gloves, etc. Here, in the case of VR, the users find themselves immersed in an environment having simulated realities or, in other words, in a simulated digital environment wherein the users have to utilize a specific headset to interact with the virtual surrounding. A head-mounted display (HMD) could be used.

One of the highly famous VR visual interfaces is HMD. It comprises a stereo pair of small displays which cover the eyes [47].

2.1.3 Mixed Reality

Mixed reality, abbreviated as MR, blends or merges the real-world environment and the virtual environment. Here, in mixed reality, real-world objects and virtual objects can co-exist and interact with each other in real time. Mixed reality is also sometimes called hybrid reality.

In MR, there is merging of real and virtual worlds in order to produce an environment which is enriched interactively and where physical and digital objects both co-exist [1].

Combining or merging of the real world and the virtual world is defined as MR [4]. This is also one way of defining MR. It can also be defined as merging of the real world and the virtual world so as to produce new visualizations and new environments where physical objects as well as digital objects co-exist and also interact in real time [7].

2.2 History of XR

The history of XR consists of a lot of key events which have been instrumental in its journey. Some of them are discussed below.

Starting from centuries ago, the year 1838 proved to be a great year toward the beginning of XR journey. Charles Wheatstone, in the year 1838, invented the stereoscope. While writing about it in his paper, Charles Wheatstone referred to the stereoscope as an instrument. He himself referred to the stereoscope as an instrument in his paper [44]. A stereoscope lets the users view a pair of separate images for each eye, creating a 3D image with an illusion of depth.

Then, moving to the years after the 1950s, Morton Heilig, a cinematographer, invented Sensorama in the year 1957, which is addressed as one of the first experiences of VR or one of the first machines of VR. This proved to be a great milestone achievement in the XR journey. The Sensorama simulator was patented in the year 1962. It provided an immersive experience of cinema. Here real-world experiences were simulated. A user could view a 3D film with stereo sound, smell, etc., which gave an immersive experience. Sensorama included a chair which was a motional one and a sound system which was stereo sound, along with stereoscopic color display. To ensure that there was complete immersive experience, there was provision to experience aroma and wind via the inclusion of emitters for aroma and fans. Sensorama simulated a motorcycle moving through Brooklyn that provided an experience in which the user is sitting on the motorcycle, the wind is gushing, and there is the presence of different sounds and aromas of the city, together creating an immersive environment.

In the year 1961, engineers from Philco developed a headset called Headsight. It was the first VR motion tracking headset.

Ivan Sutherland, a professor at Harvard, constructed a device called the Sword of Damocles in the year 1968, which was a head-mounted display. The Sword of Damocles supported a stereo view which was updated correctly in accordance with the user's head position and orientation [3].

In the year 1975, Myron Krueger created VIDEOPLACE, an artificial reality, and in this system the silhouettes of the users which were grabbed by the cameras had their projections on a big screen. Also, it provided interaction for the participants [2, 3].

Toward the end of the 1980s, Binocular-Omni-Orientational Monitor (BOOM) was made by Fake Space Labs. BOOM was a complex system. It was composed of a stereoscopic displaying device. A broad virtual and moving environment along with a mechanical arm tracking was provided by it [2].

BOOM mounts displays that are small in front of the eyes, though more like binoculars than goggles, just like the HMD.

The period between the 1980s and the 1990s witnessed a lot of developments-for example, in this period, VPL Research company, founded by Jaron Lanier, made or developed two very famous VR devices, namely:

• DataGlove
• Eyephone

When it comes to VR, these were the first commercially sold VR devices [3], and they were made during the period between the 1980s and the 1990s. During the same period between the 1980s and the 1990s, the term virtual reality was coined. Jaron Lanier, who was the founder of VPL Research as mentioned above, coined the term virtual reality.

At Boeing Corporation, a research was being conducted during the time period of the early 1990s. It was during this period of time that the concept of overlaying computer graphics on top of real world came up, which how AR technology actually got its name. At Boeing, Caudell and Mizell (1992) were working back then in early 1990s, and they worked on making the process of conveying wiring instructions for aircraft assembly simple to construction workers. They referred to this proposed solution of overlaying computer-presented material on top of the real world as augmented reality [48].

CAVE (CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment) was developed at the University of Illinois in Chicago. The first CAVE was developed here. It was demonstrated at the 1992 SIGGRAPH conference. CAVE is a VR and scientific visualization system [3].

Moving forward and talking about the years after 2000, Oculus Rift is then considered a turning point in the journey of XR. Luckey Palmer, the founder of Oculus VR company, created a prototype of Oculus Rift which is a VR headset. In 2014, Oculus VR got acquired by Facebook.

The year 2016 witnessed the launch of MR HMD HoloLensTM by Microsoft.

If someone just looks at HoloLens in a glance, then they will see that it has various things that are similar with AR HMDs [8].

In the year 2017, IKEA Place app was launched, which is an AR app. It lets users view how a furniture will look like in the house. So, prior to purchasing the furniture, the users will be able to view how the furniture which they intend to purchase will actually look like in their house.

There onward in the preceding years until the present time, VR, AR, and MR applications have witnessed a rise. Their usage increased. Now, XR technologies are widely being adopted in various applications, which we will be discussing in the chapter.

2.3 Understanding AR

To understand the XR concept briefly, let us try to understand different aspects of each of the three technologies, i.e., AR, VR, and MR. Beginning with AR, let us first discuss regarding its different aspects.

Till date AR has obtained huge attention for growing number of technological developments [42]. The functioning of AR is such that AR through its functioning has grabbed the attention of researchers and developers in various areas of industry [12]. Be it the healthcare industry, education industry, etc. AR is turning out to be an useful technology. A natural complement to mobile computing is AR [6].

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