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Extended reality (XR) is both an umbrella term to refer to and interpolate between augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR), as well as to extrapolate (extend) beyond these, e.g. allowing us to see sound waves, radio waves, and otherwise invisible phenomena. [1] [2] [3] The technology is intended to combine or mirror the physical world with a "digital twin world" able to interact with it, [4] [5] giving users an immersive experience by being in a virtual or augmented environment.
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XR is rapidly growing beyond an academic discipline, and is now having real-world impact in medicine, [6] [7] architecture, [8] education, [9] industry, [10] and is being applied in a wide range of areas such as entertainment, cinema, marketing, real estate, manufacturing, [11] education, maintenance [12] and remote work. [13] Extended reality has the ability to be used for joint effort in the workplace, training, educational purposes, therapeutic treatments, and data exploration and analysis.
Extended reality works by using visual data acquisition that is either accessed locally or shared and transfers over a network and to the human senses. By enabling real-time responses in a virtual stimulus these devices create customized experiences. Advancing in 5G and edge computing – a type of computing that is done "at or near the source of data" – could aid in data rates, increase user capacity, and reduce latency. These applications will likely expand extended reality into the future.
Extended Reality can be applied not only to humans as a subject, but also to technology as a subject, where the subject (whether human or technology) can have its sensory capacity extended by placing it in a closed feedback loop. This form of Extended Intelligence is called veillametrics. [14] [15]
In 2018 the BBC launched a research project to capture and document the barriers present in extended reality environments. [16]
The International Institute of MetaNumismatics (INIMEN) studies the applications of extended reality technologies in numismatic research, with a dedicated department. [17]
