History of AR/VR
This 2016 mobile game brought Location-Based AR to the masses as players caught digital monsters in the real world.
What is Pokémon GO?
VR stands for this two-word term.
What is Virtual Reality?
AR and VR are often grouped together under this two-word "XR" umbrella term.
What is Extended Reality?
A crucial spec that determines how much of the virtual world you can see at a glance (full term and abbreviation)
Field of View (FOV)
True or False: You must always download a dedicated app to your phone to experience Augmented Reality.
What is False?
Created by Morton Heilig in 1962, this arcade-style cabinet was one of the earliest multi-sensory immersive experiences, using 3D film, smells, and wind.
What is the Sensorama?
In VR, this term describes the feeling of being completely surrounded by, and present within, a digital environment.
What is Immersion?
The IKEA Place app, which lets you drop a digital couch onto your real floor, uses this geometry-focused type of AR.
What is Markerless AR?
A headset that lets you look up, down, left, and right, but does NOT track you walking forward or jumping, has this many "Degrees of Freedom."
3
While older or cheaper headsets only have 3 DoF, modern standalone headsets that let you physically walk around your room have this many "Degrees of Freedom."
What is 6 DoF (Six Degrees of Freedom)?
Released by Nintendo in 1995, this red-and-black 3D console is considered one of the biggest commercial flops in early VR history.
What is the Virtual Boy?
This common physical problem can occur when your eyes tell your brain you are moving, but your inner ear tells your brain you are sitting still.
What is motion sickness (or cybersickness)?
Scanning a QR code to make a 3D model appear on your desk is an example of this type of AR.
What is Marker-Based AR?
Measured in Hertz (Hz), this spec tells you how many times per second the headset's screen updates its image.
What is Refresh Rate?
Unlike the "Outside-In" tracking of early headsets, modern headsets like the Meta Quest use cameras built directly into the visor to map the room, a method known by this term.
What is Inside-Out tracking?
Palmer Luckey launched a wildly successful 2012 Kickstarter for this specific headset, kicking off the modern VR era.
What is the Oculus Rift?
Unlike AR, which adds to the real world, VR relies on blocking out the physical world entirely—a concept sometimes referred to as this "O" word.
What is Occlusion?
This highly interactive type of AR uses artificial light to put digital graphics directly onto real-world surfaces, like a digital keyboard on a desk.
What is Projection-Based AR?
A physical adjustment on a headset to ensure the lenses match the distance between your eyes (the full term and its acronym)
What is Interpupillary Distance (IPD)?
This feature, common on modern VR headsets, uses the external tracking cameras to show you a live video feed of your real room, effectively turning a VR headset into an AR device.
What is Passthrough (or Passthrough AR)?
Ivan Sutherland invented this terrifyingly named device in 1968, widely considered the first VR/AR head-mounted display.
What is the Sword of Damocles?
This type of VR tracking uses external cameras or base stations placed around the physical room to track where your headset is.
What is Outside-In tracking?
Snapchat face filters use this specific type of AR to recognize a physical identity (your face) and replace or enhance it.
What is Superimposition-Based AR?
This is the term for the amount of the world that can be seen by both eyes at once. Having more increases your depth perception, having less decreases it.
What is binocular overlap?
Google Maps Live View, which uses your GPS to place digital directional arrows on the real street in front of you, is an example of this specific type of AR.
What is Location-Based AR?