Extended Reality: Discover the latest hardware for virtual reality and more

What is the difference between extended reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality?

Extended reality (XR) is an umbrella term for various technologies that bridge the digital and real worlds. These include virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. While these technologies function differently from a technological standpoint, they share the common goal of making information, content, and experiences more immersive, vivid, and interactive.

XR opens up a wide range of possibilities for businesses, from virtual training and interactive product presentations to digital assistance systems in service and production. Understanding the differences between virtual reality, mixed reality and augmented reality helps you identify the right technology for each use case.

Virtual reality completely immerses users in a virtual environment, while augmented reality enhances the real world with additional information. Mixed reality goes a step further than AR, enabling direct interaction between physical and digital objects. This breadth makes extended reality a key component of digitalisation, communication, training and visualisation — and VR, in particular, an exciting topic for gaming.

Virtual reality: fully immerse yourself in digital worlds

Virtual reality (VR) creates a fully computer-generated environment in which users can immerse themselves in digital scenarios using VR glasses or a VR headset. This virtual, three-dimensional world completely blocks out the user’s real surroundings. VR is particularly well-suited to applications that require maximum immersion. Examples include realistic simulations, training, virtual showrooms, 3D planning and interactive training environments.

A major advantage of VR is its ability to depict complex situations in a realistic yet controlled manner. Processes can be visualised, workflows practised and products experienced without requiring the full extent of real-world resources. This is why virtual reality has long been used in industrial and business environments.

VR opens up new possibilities for gaming in particular, offering maximum immersion and the chance to dive deep into fantastical virtual worlds.

There are two different approaches:

• Simple applications and games run on a standalone VR headset (head mounted display, HMD), which includes a processor, graphics chip, RAM, storage, display and headphones. In this case, all applications and games run directly on the headset itself.
• In contrast, highly immersive games and professional VR applications with the highest possible graphics quality rely on PCVR, the high-end solution for virtual reality scenarios. The VR headset connects to a powerful gaming laptop, laptop workstation or gaming PC; (XR ready hardware) via cable or wireless connection. This high-performance device handles the processing of high-resolution graphics and outputs them to the display in the VR headset in the best possible quality.

Augmented reality: bringing digital content into the real world

Augmented reality (AR) enhances the real world with digital information. Users can still see their physical surroundings, but they also receive additional information, objects or visual overlays, both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D). This form of AR is particularly useful when digital information needs to be provided in the context of a real-world task.

Display options range from simple instructions, texts and schematic drawings to complex 3D objects or cross-sections of an object.

Typical use cases for augmented reality include maintenance, navigation, assembly support, product visualisation and interactive consultations. AR also offers great potential in marketing and sales, as it enables products to be presented vividly and clearly. The major benefit of augmented reality lies in combining reality with additional information in real time.

Mixed reality: when real and virtual elements interact

Mixed reality (MR) combines features of virtual and augmented reality, but goes beyond the latter in terms of functionality. Rather than merely being superimposed, virtual objects are spatially integrated into the real environment. This enables interaction between virtual and real elements, allowing them to interact with people, surfaces, or real objects.

This is achieved using an MR headset with inside-out tracking. The headset captures the real environment and displays it alongside virtual content on the head-mounted display.

Mixed reality is particularly well-suited to demanding use cases where digital models, processes or instructions must be directly linked to the physical environment. Examples include engineering, remote maintenance, technical training, medicine and industrial planning. Mixed reality enables particularly natural interaction between people, space, and digital content.

Extended reality in business: applications and benefits

Extended reality is becoming an increasingly important technology for businesses because it makes information tangible as well as visible. XR applications present complex content in an understandable way, streamline processes and provide targeted support to employees.

In a business context, virtual reality (VR) plays a key role in simulations, training and virtual presentations. Augmented reality supports on-site workflows, for example by providing visual cues during maintenance or assembly. Mixed reality combines both approaches to create interactive solutions for particularly demanding applications.

The most important benefits of extended reality include:

• clear knowledge transfer
• realistic training
• interactive product presentation
• more efficient processes
• better support in service, planning and production

Extended Reality can create real added value, especially when complex products, technical processes or content that requires explanation are involved.

Extended Reality in gaming: How virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality enhance the gaming experience

Among all extended reality technologies, virtual reality currently plays the most significant role in gaming. Gaming platforms such as Steam already feature numerous VR games, including VR shooters, racing sims, rhythm games and flight simulators, which feel more realistic than ever and offer maximum immersion and gaming fun when played with a high-resolution VR headset.

Augmented reality, on the other hand, plays only a minor role in gaming. The professional version of AR with an AR headset is used less frequently here. The best-known game with AR elements is Pokémon GO, in which digital elements are overlaid onto reality in a simple form on one's smartphone display rather than on dedicated AR glasses.

Mixed reality takes this a step further. Here, virtual objects are not only overlaid, but also strongly linked to real space. For example, a game can recognise where walls, tables or open spaces are located and place content within them appropriately. This approach is interesting for gaming, but so far it is less widespread than classic VR. This is mainly due to the lower prevalence of suitable headsets, and the fact that fewer mature MR games are available. Full-scale simulations, such as car racing and flying virtual aircraft, simply work better in the fully immersive VR environment.