What is Virtual Reality?
A glossary of terms for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), rich reality, and smart glasses.
If we look at the evening news, the year 2020 may seem full of deadly pandemics, economic crises, locust invasions, or natural disasters. But the technological side of things is completely different, and in the future, when the year 2020 is mentioned, I think it will be remembered as the year when technological transformation began, and many next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality, and augmented reality started to sprout.
Recently, while looking at the features of newly released virtual reality headsets regarding the VR/AR technologies I follow, I realized that I was having a hard time understanding them. For this reason, I did a brief research to put an end to the confusion of concepts and understand some terms I didn’t know. I compiled it for enthusiasts like me and those who need short, clear, and informative explanations on the subject. I will try to update this article as much as possible. I will add to it as I learn new things or find explanatory visuals. If you write the terms you know or think should be below in the comments, I will quickly add them to the article.
GLOSSARY OF VIRTUAL REALITY, AUGMENTED REALITY, AND MIXED REALITY TERMS
VR – Virtual reality – What is virtual reality: It is the combination of reality and imagination with fictions created using technology. In other words, it is to make sensory organs perceive virtual environments as real by using various technologies.
Virtual learning environments, virtual tours for tourism purposes, VR gaming, virtual meetings or chat software, 3D video tools, platforms designed to enrich productivity and collaboration experiences to accelerate business processes can be shown as usage areas of virtual reality.
AR – Augmented reality – What is augmented reality: It is the addition of digital layers on top of an existing environment by bridging the gap between the virtual and physical world.
DoF – Degrees of Freedom – What are degrees of freedom (DoF): In our 3D world, there are a total of 6 axes, that is, 6DoF. DoF is used to define a tracked axis for VR. Tracking comes from the ability to monitor the change in angle or distance on the axes using hardware.
FoV – Field of View – What is field of view: The field of view of humans is approximately 180 degrees vertically and horizontally. Therefore, for a virtual reality experience, the image displayed on the screen being as close to these ratios as possible emerges as a factor that enhances the reality experience. For example, while the Valve Index and HP Reverb offer a 130-degree field of view, the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive offer 110 degrees, and the PSVR and Oculus Quest offer a 100-degree field of view.
HMD – Head Mounted Display – What is a head-mounted display (HMD): It is a display device with small display optics in front of one or each eye, worn on the head or as part of a helmet (Helmet-mounted display for aviation applications). An HMD has many uses such as gaming, aviation, engineering, and medicine. Virtual reality headsets and smart glasses are also a type of HMD. ( Wikipedia ) (An explanatory infographic from Imgur)
Holographic Display – What is a holographic display: It is a type of display that utilizes light diffraction to create a three-dimensional virtual image. Holographic displays are distinguished from other forms of 3D displays because they do not require any special glasses or external equipment for the viewer to see the image. ( Wikipedia )
Holographic Screen – What is a holographic screen: It is a two-dimensional display technology that uses specially coated glass for the projection surface of a video projector.
HR – Hyper Reality – What is hyper reality: This technology, which is still in the concept stage, seems slightly better than a dream world 🙂
IPD – interpupillary distance
LBE - Location-Based Entertainment
MR – Mixed Reality – What is mixed/rich reality: It is the merging of real and virtual worlds, physical and digital objects to produce new environments and visualizations where they co-exist and interact in real-time.
Oculus Link – The USB Type-C cable required to connect the Oculus Quest to a computer. ( Official Support Page )
OpenXR – What is OpenXR: It is an open, royalty-free standard for access to virtual reality and augmented reality platforms and devices. It was developed by a working group managed by the Khronos Group consortium. With the standard supported by many companies, it is briefly possible to write a VR application and have it run on all compatible headsets regardless of the brand.
PPD – What is Pixel per degree: A measure of pixel density that takes the field of view into account.
Smart Glasses – What are smart glasses: They are wearable computer glasses that add information to what the wearer sees or alongside it.
VR Tour – What is a virtual tour: It is a simulation of an existing location, usually composed of a sequence of videos or photographs. It can also use other multimedia elements such as sound effects, music, narration, and text.
WebAR – What is WebAR: It is an abbreviation for Web-based Augmented Reality for an Augmented Reality experience hosted on a web page. It means that it is sufficient for users to navigate to the URL of the web page to view the Augmented Reality experience through a single iOS or Android smartphone camera.
WebVR – What is WebVR: It is an experimental JavaScript (API) application programming interface that allows applications to interact with devices such as the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard, or Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) in a web browser. It was used in Firefox and Chromium-based browsers, but was retired and is no longer used as the WebVR API was replaced by a more powerful WebXR API that can represent virtual reality and augmented reality devices simultaneously.
WebXR – What is WebXR: One of the rising trends of recent years, WebXR is a JavaScript API that aims to provide VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) experiences over the web. The adventure, which actually started as WebVR in 2016, took the name Extended Reality (XR) with the addition of augmented reality.
XR – Extended Reality – What is extended reality: It is an umbrella term that brings together virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) technologies. Although extended reality or XR is a relatively new term, it creates a fully immersive experience for the user by blending physical and virtual worlds.
If you write the terms you know or think should be above in the comments, I will quickly add them to the article.