Glossary

Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.

11 results found in extended reality.

Augmented Reality (AR)
A technology that overlays digital information—such as images, text, or 3D objects—onto the real-world environment in real time, typically viewed through a head-mounted display, smartphone, or tablet.…
Degrees of Freedom (DoF, 3DoF, 6DoF)
In virtual and extended reality, degrees of freedom refers to the number of independent movement axes available to a user within a virtual environment. Three degrees of freedom (3DoF) allows rotationa…
Hand Tracking (Gesture Tracking, Hand Gesture Recognition)
A technology that detects and tracks the position, orientation, and movements of a user's hands and fingers without requiring physical controllers, typically using cameras and computer vision algorith…
Head-Mounted Display (HMD, VR Headset, AR Headset)
A wearable device worn on the head that places a display in front of the user's eyes to present virtual or augmented content. HMDs range from fully immersive VR headsets (like Meta Quest) that replace…
HoloLens (Microsoft HoloLens)
A self-contained, wearable mixed reality headset developed by Microsoft that overlays interactive holograms onto the user's real-world environment. HoloLens uses spatial mapping, gaze tracking, gestur…
Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR, Immersive VR)
A form of virtual reality that uses head-mounted displays (HMDs) with near-full field of view, positional tracking, and often gesture-based controllers to create a sense of being physically present in…
Mixed Reality (MR)
A spectrum of technologies that blend real and virtual environments, allowing digital and physical objects to coexist and interact in real time. Mixed reality encompasses both augmented reality (digit…
Spatial Mapping (Environment Mapping, 3D Environment Scanning)
A technology used in mixed reality and augmented reality headsets that scans and creates a digital representation of the physical environment in real time. Spatial mapping identifies surfaces such as …
Video Passthrough (Passthrough, Camera Passthrough)
A feature in VR headsets that uses external cameras to capture the real-world environment and display it on the headset's internal screens, allowing users to see their surroundings without removing th…
Virtual Reality (VR)
An immersive technology that creates a fully computer-generated environment, replacing the user's view of the real world with a simulated one. VR is typically experienced through a head-mounted displa…
XR Accessibility User Requirements (XAUR)
A W3C document that provides accessibility guidelines and user requirements specifically for extended reality (XR) applications, including virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. XAUR i…