🔠Terminology

...a discussion I will only touch on briefly.

There are a lot of different terms that have evolved in the VR and AR space. This industry is currently still in early phases for consumer adoption. Because of this, the nomenclature debate is dominated by the developers that work with the technology itself and companies that own various platforms, hardwares, and softwares.

For the sake of clarity, when referring to VR and Virtual Reality I will be describing a type of digital environment or content that completely occludes the real world and creates a new environment around you. When referring to AR and Augmented Reality, I’m describing a digital environment or content that is integrated into the physical world and has components of the real world present.

It is important to note that (outside of VR and Virtual Reality) many consumers will not be familiar with what we as developers may consider "common" terms. It is also important to note that these VR and AR technologies are often combined together using different terms (due to their nature of spatially located components and first-person perspective) - i.e. Spatial Computing, XR, Mixed Reality, Immersive Technology. However, in the context of this text, if I am speaking on behalf of both I will be shortening them together into VR/AR for clarity.