With the widespread adoption of Extended Reality (XR) headsets, spatial computing technologies are gaining increasing attention. Spatial computing enables interaction with virtual elements through natural input methods such as eye tracking, hand gestures, and voice commands, thus placing natural human-computer interaction at its core. While previous surveys have reviewed conventional XR interaction techniques, recent advancements in natural interaction, particularly driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs), have introduced new paradigms and technologies. In this paper, we review research on multimodal natural interaction for wearable XR, focusing on papers published between 2022 and 2024 in six top venues: ACM CHI, UIST, IMWUT (Ubicomp), IEEE VR, ISMAR, and TVCG. We classify and analyze these studies based on application scenarios, operation types, and interaction modalities. This analysis provides a structured framework for understanding how researchers are designing advanced natural interaction techniques in XR. Based on these findings, we discuss the challenges in natural interaction techniques and suggest potential directions for future research.
Extended Reality (XR), encompassing Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR), is a transformative technology bridging the physical and virtual world and it has diverse potential which will be ubiquitous in the future. This review examines XR's evolution through foundational framework - hardware ranging from monitors to sensors and software ranging from visual tasks to user interface; highlights state of the art (SOTA) XR products with the comparison and analysis of performance based on their foundational framework; discusses how commercial XR devices can support the demand of high-quality performance focusing on spatial intelligence. For future directions, attention should be given to the integration of multi-modal AI and IoT-driven digital twins to enable adaptive XR systems. With the concept of spatial intelligence, future XR should establish a new digital space with realistic experience that benefits humanity. This review underscores the pivotal role of AI in unlocking XR as the next frontier in human-computer interaction.
Modern extended reality XR systems provide rich analysis of image data and fusion of sensor input and demand AR/VR applications that can reason about 3D scenes in a semantic manner. We present a spatial reasoning framework that bridges geometric facts with symbolic predicates and relations to handle key tasks such as determining how 3D objects are arranged among each other ('on', 'behind', 'near', etc.). Its foundation relies on oriented 3D bounding box representations, enhanced by a comprehensive set of spatial predicates, ranging from topology and connectivity to directionality and orientation, expressed in a formalism related to natural language. The derived predicates form a spatial knowledge graph and, in combination with a pipeline-based inference model, enable spatial queries and dynamic rule evaluation. Implementations for client- and server-side processing demonstrate the framework's capability to efficiently translate geometric data into actionable knowledge, ensuring scalable and technology-independent spatial reasoning in complex 3D environments. The Spatial Reasoner framework is fostering the creation of spatial ontologies, and seamlessly integrates with and therefore
The rapid advancement of Extended Reality (XR, encompassing AR, MR, and VR) and spatial computing technologies forms a foundational layer for the emerging Metaverse, enabling innovative applications across healthcare, education, manufacturing, and entertainment. However, research in this area is often limited by the lack of large, representative, and highquality application datasets that can support empirical studies and the development of new approaches benefiting XR software processes. In this paper, we introduce XRZoo, a comprehensive and curated dataset of XR applications designed to bridge this gap. XRZoo contains 12,528 free XR applications, spanning nine app stores, across all XR techniques (i.e., AR, MR, and VR) and use cases, with detailed metadata on key aspects such as application descriptions, application categories, release dates, user review numbers, and hardware specifications, etc. By making XRZoo publicly available, we aim to foster reproducible XR software engineering and security research, enable cross-disciplinary investigations, and also support the development of advanced XR systems by providing examples to developers. Our dataset serves as a valuable resource
Most XR web browsers still present webpages as a single floating window, carrying over desktop design assumptions into immersive space. We explore an alternative by breaking the browser window and distributing a webpage into spatial UI chunks within a mixed-reality workspace. We present Break-the-Window (BTW), an exploratory prototype that spatially decomposes live, fully functional webpages into movable panels supporting mid-air and surface-attached placement, as well as direct touch and ray-based interaction. Through a formative study with XR practitioners and an exploratory qualitative study with 15 participants, we observed how spatial decomposition supports distributed attention and spatial meaning-making, while also surfacing challenges around coordination effort, interaction precision, and the lack of shared spatial UI conventions. This work invites discussion on how web interfaces might be reimagined for spatial computing beyond the single-window paradigm.
The term XR is currently widely used as an expression encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). However, there is no clear consensus regarding its origin or meaning. XR is sometimes explained as an abbreviation for Extended Reality, but multiple interpretations exist regarding its etymology and formation process. This paper organizes the historical formation of terminology related to VR, AR, MR, and XR, and reexamines the context in which the term XR emerged and how it has spread. In particular, by presenting a timeline that distinguishes between the coinage of terms and the drivers of their adoption, we suggest that XR, as an umbrella term, functions not as an abbreviation of Extended Reality, but rather as a neutral symbolic label that encompasses multiple "reality"-related terms. Furthermore, we argue that stable usage of terminology, including XR, requires governance through collaboration among academia, industry, and standardization organizations.
The development of radiance fields (RF), such as 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) and Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF), has revolutionized interactive photorealistic view synthesis and presents enormous opportunities for XR research and applications. However, despite the exponential growth of RF research, RF-related contributions to the XR community remain sparse. To better understand this research gap, we performed a systematic survey of current RF literature to analyze (i) how RF is envisioned for XR applications, (ii) how they have already been implemented, and (iii) the remaining research gaps. We collected 365 RF contributions related to XR from computer vision, computer graphics, robotics, multimedia, human-computer interaction, and XR communities, seeking to answer the above research questions. Among the 365 papers, we performed an analysis of 66 papers that already addressed a detailed aspect of RF research for XR. With this survey, we extended and positioned XR-specific RF research topics in the broader RF research field and provide a helpful resource for the XR community to navigate within the rapid development of RF research.
Despite recent advances on multi-modal models, 3D spatial reasoning remains a challenging task for state-of-the-art open-source and proprietary models. Recent studies explore data-driven approaches and achieve enhanced spatial reasoning performance by fine-tuning models on 3D-related visual question-answering data. However, these methods typically perform spatial reasoning in an implicit manner and often fail on questions that are trivial to humans, even with long chain-of-thought reasoning. In this work, we introduce SpatialReasoner, a novel large vision-language model (LVLM) that addresses 3D spatial reasoning with explicit 3D representations shared between multiple stages--3D perception, computation, and reasoning. Explicit 3D representations provide a coherent interface that supports advanced 3D spatial reasoning and improves the generalization ability to novel question types. Furthermore, by analyzing the explicit 3D representations in multi-step reasoning traces of SpatialReasoner, we study the factual errors and identify key shortcomings of current LVLMs. Results show that our SpatialReasoner achieves improved performance on a variety of spatial reasoning benchmarks, outperf
Humans perceive and understand real-world spaces through a stream of visual observations. Therefore, the ability to streamingly maintain and update spatial evidence from potentially unbounded video streams is essential for spatial intelligence. The core challenge is not simply longer context windows but how spatial information is selected, organized, and retained over time. In this paper, we propose Spatial-TTT towards streaming visual-based spatial intelligence with test-time training (TTT), which adapts a subset of parameters (fast weights) to capture and organize spatial evidence over long-horizon scene videos. Specifically, we design a hybrid architecture and adopt large-chunk updates parallel with sliding-window attention for efficient spatial video processing. To further promote spatial awareness, we introduce a spatial-predictive mechanism applied to TTT layers with 3D spatiotemporal convolution, which encourages the model to capture geometric correspondence and temporal continuity across frames. Beyond architecture design, we construct a dataset with dense 3D spatial descriptions, which guides the model to update its fast weights to memorize and organize global 3D spatial s
We present Explainable XR, an end-to-end framework for analyzing user behavior in diverse eXtended Reality (XR) environments by leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) for data interpretation assistance. Existing XR user analytics frameworks face challenges in handling cross-virtuality - AR, VR, MR - transitions, multi-user collaborative application scenarios, and the complexity of multimodal data. Explainable XR addresses these challenges by providing a virtuality-agnostic solution for the collection, analysis, and visualization of immersive sessions. We propose three main components in our framework: (1) A novel user data recording schema, called User Action Descriptor (UAD), that can capture the users' multimodal actions, along with their intents and the contexts; (2) a platform-agnostic XR session recorder, and (3) a visual analytics interface that offers LLM-assisted insights tailored to the analysts' perspectives, facilitating the exploration and analysis of the recorded XR session data. We demonstrate the versatility of Explainable XR by demonstrating five use-case scenarios, in both individual and collaborative XR applications across virtualities. Our technical evaluation a
Open-set object detection (OSOD) localizes objects while identifying and rejecting unknown classes at inference. While recent OSOD models perform well on benchmarks, their behavior under realistic user prompting remains underexplored. In interactive XR settings, user-generated prompts are often ambiguous, underspecified, or overly detailed. To study prompt-conditioned robustness, we evaluate two OSOD models, GroundingDINO and YOLO-E, on real-world XR images and simulate diverse user prompting behaviors using vision-language models. We consider four prompt types: standard, underdetailed, overdetailed, and pragmatically ambiguous, and examine the impact of two enhancement strategies on these prompts. Results show that both models exhibit stable performance under underdetailed and standard prompts, while they suffer degradation under ambiguous prompts. Overdetailed prompts primarily affect GroundingDINO. Prompt enhancement substantially improves robustness under ambiguity, yielding gains exceeding 55% mIoU and 41% average confidence. Based on the findings, we propose several prompting strategies and prompt enhancement methods for OSOD models in XR environments.
While large language models (LLMs) have accelerated 2D software development through intent-driven "vibe coding", prototyping intelligent Extended Reality (XR) experiences remains a major challenge. The fundamental barrier is not just the steep learning curve for human creators, but that low-level sensor APIs and complex game engine hierarchies are ill-suited for LLM reasoning, routinely exceeding context windows and inducing syntax hallucinations. To bridge this gap, we contribute XR Blocks, an open-source, LLM-native WebXR framework. Unlike traditional engines, XR Blocks introduces a semantic "Reality Model" that aligns spatial computing primitives (users, physical environments, and agents) with natural language, providing a robust, concise vocabulary optimized for generative AI. Building upon this foundation, we present Vibe Coding XR, an end-to-end prototyping workflow that leverages LLMs to translate high-level prompts (e.g., "create a dandelion that reacts to my hand") directly into functional, physics-aware mixed-reality applications. To minimize the friction of on-device testing, the workflow introduces a seamless desktop "simulated reality" to headset deployment loop. Final
The recent development of quantum computing, which uses entanglement, superposition, and other quantum fundamental concepts, can provide substantial processing advantages over traditional computing. These quantum features help solve many complex problems that cannot be solved otherwise with conventional computing methods. These problems include modeling quantum mechanics, logistics, chemical-based advances, drug design, statistical science, sustainable energy, banking, reliable communication, and quantum chemical engineering. The last few years have witnessed remarkable progress in quantum software and algorithm creation and quantum hardware research, which has significantly advanced the prospect of realizing quantum computers. It would be helpful to have comprehensive literature research on this area to grasp the current status and find outstanding problems that require considerable attention from the research community working in the quantum computing industry. To better understand quantum computing, this paper examines the foundations and vision based on current research in this area. We discuss cutting-edge developments in quantum computer hardware advancement and subsequent ad
Extended Reality (XR) affords an enhanced sense of bodily presence that supports experiential modes of comprehension and affective engagement which exceed the possibilities of conventional information delivery. Nevertheless, the psychological processes engendered by XR, and the manner in which these processes inform subsequent behavioural intentions, remain only partially delineated. The present study addresses this issue within an applied context by comparing non-immersive 2D viewing advertising with immersive XR experiential advertising. We examined whether XR strengthens internal responses to a product, specifically perceived comprehension and empathy, and whether these responses, in turn, influence the behavioural outcome of purchase intention. A repeated-measures two-way ANOVA demonstrated a significant main effect of advertising modality, with XR yielding higher ratings on all evaluative dimensions. Mediation analysis further indicated that the elevation in purchase intention was mediated by empathy, whereas no significant mediating effect was observed for comprehension within the scope of this study. These findings suggest that immersive XR experiences augment empathic engag
In time-critical eXtended reality (XR) scenarios where users must rapidly reorient their attention to hazards, alerts, or instructions while engaged in a primary task, spatial audio can provide an immediate directional cue without occupying visual bandwidth. However, such scenarios can afford only a brief auditory exposure, requiring users to interpret sound direction quickly and without extended listening or head-driven refinement. This paper reports a controlled exploratory study of rapid spatial-audio localization in XR. Using HRTF-rendered broadband stimuli presented from a semi-dense set of directions around the listener, we quantify how accurately users can infer coarse direction from brief audio alone. We further examine the effects of short-term visuo-auditory feedback training as a lightweight calibration mechanism. Our findings show that brief spatial cues can convey coarse directional information, and that even short calibration can improve users' perception of aural signals. While these results highlight the potential of spatial audio for rapid attention guidance, they also show that auditory cues alone may not provide sufficient precision for complex or high-stakes tas
We are on the cusp where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (XR) are converging to unlock new paradigms of interactive computing. However, a significant gap exists between the ecosystems of these two fields: while AI research and development is accelerated by mature frameworks like JAX and benchmarks like LMArena, prototyping novel AI-driven XR interactions remains a high-friction process, often requiring practitioners to manually integrate disparate, low-level systems for perception, rendering, and interaction. To bridge this gap, we present XR Blocks, a cross-platform framework designed to accelerate human-centered AI + XR innovation. XR Blocks strives to provide a modular architecture with plug-and-play components for core abstraction in AI + XR: user, world, peers; interface, context, and agents. Crucially, it is designed with the mission of "reducing frictions from idea to reality", thus accelerating rapid prototyping of AI + XR apps. Built upon accessible technologies (WebXR, three.js, TensorFlow, Gemini), our toolkit lowers the barrier to entry for XR creators. We demonstrate its utility through a set of open-source templates, samples, and advanced demos, empo
Extended reality (XR) is touted as the next frontier of the digital future. XR includes all immersive technologies of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). XR applications obtain the real-world context of the user from an underlying system, and provide rich, immersive, and interactive virtual experiences based on the user's context in real-time. XR systems process streams of data from device sensors, and provide functionalities including perceptions and graphics required by the applications. These processing steps are computationally intensive, and the challenge is that they must be performed within the strict latency requirements of XR. This poses limitations on the possible XR experiences that can be supported on mobile devices with limited computing resources. In this XR context, edge computing is an effective approach to address this problem for mobile users. The edge is located closer to the end users and enables processing and storing data near them. In addition, the development of high bandwidth and low latency network technologies such as 5G facilitates the application of edge computing for latency-critical use cases [4, 11]. This work presen
Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) enhance collaboration in Extended Reality (XR) environments by enabling flexible object and animation creation through the combination of natural language and visual inputs. However, visual data captured by XR headsets includes real-world backgrounds that may contain irrelevant or sensitive user information, such as credit cards left on the table or facial identities of other users. Uploading those frames to cloud-based MLLMs poses serious privacy risks, particularly when such data is processed without explicit user consent. Additionally, existing colocation and synchronization mechanisms in commercial XR APIs rely on time-consuming, privacy-invasive environment scanning and struggle to adapt to the highly dynamic nature of MLLM-integrated XR environments. In this paper, we propose PRISM-XR, a novel framework that facilitates multi-user collaboration in XR by providing privacy-aware MLLM integration. PRISM-XR employs intelligent frame preprocessing on the edge server to filter sensitive data and remove irrelevant context before communicating with cloud generative AI models. Additionally, we introduce a lightweight registration process and a
Inaccurate spatial tracking in extended reality (XR) devices leads to virtual object jitter, misalignment, and user discomfort, fundamentally limiting immersive experiences and natural interactions. In this work, we introduce a novel testbed that enables simultaneous, synchronized evaluation of multiple XR devices under identical environmental and kinematic conditions. Leveraging this platform, we present the first comprehensive empirical benchmarking of five state-of-the-art XR devices across 16 diverse scenarios. Our results reveal substantial intra-device performance variation, with individual devices exhibiting up to 101\% increases in error when operating in featureless environments. We also demonstrate that tracking accuracy strongly correlates with visual conditions and motion dynamics. We also observe significant inter-device disparities, with performance differences of up to 2.8$\times$, which are closely linked to hardware specifications such as sensor configurations and dedicated processing units. Finally, we explore the feasibility of substituting a motion capture system with the Apple Vision Pro as a practical ground truth reference. While the Apple Vision Pro delivers
We introduce compute-grounded reasoning (CGR), a design paradigm for spatial-aware research agents in which every answerable sub-problem is resolved by deterministic computation before a language model is asked to generate. Spatial Atlas instantiates CGR as a single Agent-to-Agent (A2A) server that handles two challenging benchmarks: FieldWorkArena, a multimodal spatial question-answering benchmark spanning factory, warehouse, and retail environments, and MLE-Bench, a suite of 75 Kaggle machine learning competitions requiring end-to-end ML engineering. A structured spatial scene graph engine extracts entities and relations from vision descriptions, computes distances and safety violations deterministically, then feeds computed facts to large language models, thereby avoiding hallucinated spatial reasoning. Entropy-guided action selection maximizes information gain per step and routes queries across a three-tier frontier model stack (OpenAI + Anthropic). A self-healing ML pipeline with strategy-aware code generation, a score-driven iterative refinement loop, and a prompt-based leak audit registry round out the system. We evaluate across both benchmarks and show that CGR yields compe