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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

XR technologies as access to the

metaverse

Since the Facebook, Inc., group was renamed "In recent years, we have noticed a large number of
Meta Platforms, Inc., the term "metaverse" has terms that are sometimes used imprecisely, incorrectly
rapidly gained in importance and in this context and inconsistently," says Prof. Florian Alt from the
the terms augmented reality (AR) and virtual CODE research center at the University of the Federal
reality (VR) too. Armed Forces in Munich. “We took this as an oppor-
tunity to work out new definitions with leading experts
An international, interdisciplinary team of researchers is from the XR community and to describe the differences
working intensively on researching these concepts and theoretically.” After about a year of work, a practical
revealed that the term metaverse is often used as a overview framework has now emerged, called the xRe-
synonym for AR and VR apps. Prof. Philipp Rauschna- ality Framework.
bel, from the University of the Federal Armed Forces in
Munich, however, points out that AR and VR are just “Unlike previous models, we are not looking at these
the gateways to the metaverse – comparable to how a new reality formats from a technical point of view, but
smartphone or browser enables access to today's Inter- from a user perspective," says Rauschnabel, question-
net. ing whether the physical environment is part of the ex-
perience or not. “If so, then it's AR, if not, then it's VR,"
The scientist emphasizes that the term metaverse has he concludes.
so far been more of a vision than an existing concept.
Colloquially, the metaverse can also be described as a Most VR applications take place via head mounted dis-
headless and decentralized 3D interaction space that plays, commonly known as VR glasses. AR applica-
reflects communities and is accessible via XR, as well tions, however, can be used via stationary or mobile
as exhibiting properties of societies (e.g., transactions, devices: AR glasses, for example, are approaching
presence of people in the form of avatars or curren- market maturity and patents for smart contact lenses
cies). point to the future.

August 2022: Immersive Technologies in Marketing 5