Extended Reality

An umbrella term encompassing all immersive technologies that blend physical and virtual environments, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). In accessibility, extended reality technologies offer promising assistive applications — smart glasses can overlay visual enhancements, labels, and navigation aids onto the real world for people with vision impairments; VR can provide controlled training environments for rehabilitation; and AR can add real-time captions, object identification, or environmental simplification. XR devices range from fully immersive headsets to lightweight smart glasses, with the trend toward smaller, more wearable form factors making them increasingly practical as everyday assistive tools.