Extended reality (XR)
Extended reality, or XR, is the umbrella term for virtual, augmented and mixed reality and everything between them: any environment that combines the physical with the computer-generated through devices the person wears. That is how 3GPP, the body that develops the specifications for mobile networks, defines it in its technical report TR 26.928.
Fyware's XR glossary, with the source behind each definition.
Extended reality, or XR, is the umbrella term for virtual, augmented and mixed reality and everything between them: any environment that combines the physical with the computer-generated through devices the person wears. That is how 3GPP, the body that develops the specifications for mobile networks, defines it in its technical report TR 26.928.
The 3GPP report on XR in 5G treats the term as an umbrella and defines each branch on its own. Virtual reality replaces the user’s field of view with a simulated visual component, updated as the user moves. Augmented reality overlays information or generated content on the user’s current environment, which the user sees directly or through sensors. Mixed reality is an advanced form of augmented reality, with virtual elements inserted into the physical scene so they seem part of it. According to the same text, the levels of virtuality run from partial sensory inputs to fully immersive virtual reality.
The report uses the acronym throughout for devices and applications of every branch. Where the acronym comes from is less settled. A historical analysis by Takeshi Kurata, posted to arXiv in March 2026 as a preprint, concludes that there is no consensus on the origin or the meaning of XR, and suggests reading it as a neutral label that covers several reality terms, with extended reality as one interpretation among several. Microsoft calls the same range the mixed reality spectrum.
Its closest neighbor is spatial computing, which describes what a machine knows about physical space, with an image or without one. Many XR projects rely on it without naming it, such as the Fyware fire extinguisher simulator, which scans the room before placing the fire on the floor.
A quote for XR therefore does not yet say what the person will see. The questions worth putting to the vendor have checkable answers: whether the operator stops seeing the plant or keeps seeing it, which device the content runs on, whether the image is computed on the headset or on a server that streams it, as Hololight Space does, and what camera data leaves the device. The proposal should also state its immersion figures. Among the requirements for visual presence, the 3GPP report lists motion-to-photon latency under 20 milliseconds, from the moment the head moves until the display changes, and a display refresh rate of 90 Hz or more.
Access Virtual develops a portable full-motion flight simulator, and Fyware built for it what the published case calls the extended reality layer. That layer integrates an XTAL 3 headset, with a field of view of up to 180 degrees horizontal according to its manufacturer, and two pieces for the hands: hand tracking that Fyware integrated, so the pilot uses their own hands in the cockpit, and bHaptics gloves that return a sensation to the fingers when a button is pressed. The six-degrees-of-freedom motion platform is Access Virtual’s claim, as is the design to the FAA Level D standard. In this glossary’s terms, the layer is immersive virtual reality with hand tracking and haptics.
«all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables»
The 3GPP technical report on XR in 5G defines extended reality as the umbrella over virtual, augmented and mixed reality and the areas between them. In clause 4.2.1 it lists, among the requirements for visual presence, motion-to-photon latency under 20 milliseconds and a refresh rate of 90 Hz or more.
«there is no clear consensus regarding its origin or meaning»
A 2026 historical analysis, posted as a preprint, concludes that there is no consensus on the origin or the meaning of the acronym XR.
«We refer to this spectrum of realities as the mixed reality spectrum.»
Microsoft calls the range between physical and digital reality the mixed reality spectrum, the same range 3GPP groups as XR.
«180° horizontal, 120° vertical (maximum experimental values)»
The maker of the XTAL 3 headset lists 180 degrees horizontal and 120 vertical as its maximum experimental field of view; the default values are 140 and 90.
Source: Vrgineers, XTAL 3 VR product page, Technical Specifications, Field of View
Fyware’s published cases cover the whole range. Gerdau Corsa trains crane operators on virtual reality simulators; Target Robotics places its production line in augmented reality on the buyer’s floor; the industrial robot digital twin runs in mixed reality on HoloLens 2; and Access Virtual’s flight simulator adds tracked hands and haptic gloves to virtual reality.
Virtual reality is one of its branches. XR also covers augmented and mixed reality, where the person keeps seeing the surroundings, while in virtual reality a simulated scene replaces the field of view (3GPP TR 26.928). Faced with an XR proposal, it is worth asking which branch it uses and whether the operator will still see the plant.
In the 3GPP technical report on XR in 5G networks it stands for extended reality. A 2026 historical analysis by Takeshi Kurata points out that several interpretations of the acronym exist and argues that XR works better as a neutral label for the whole family of reality terms than as an abbreviation.
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