Page 35 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2022

A SURVEY OF EXTENDED REALITY (XR) STANDARDS

Gillian Makamara and Martin Adolph

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

NOTE – The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
International Telecommunication Union or its membership.

ABSTRACT ITU defines XR as “an environment containing real or virtual
components or a combination thereof, where the variable X
This paper surveys completed and ongoing work of serves as a placeholder for any form of new environment”
Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs), fora and e.g. Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), or
consortia dealing with technical aspects of extended Reality Virtual Reality (VR).
(XR). In line with the XR definition introduced by [1],
specifications considered here address environments Examples for immersive technologies and experiences
containing real or virtual components or a combination covered by the XR umbrella term have existed in the past,
thereof, i.e. standards dealing with, inter alia, Augmented whether in the form of the Pokémon Go mobile AR gaming
Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and metaverse. While app, the Oculus VR and HoloLens MR headsets [2]. The
aiming to be comprehensive, this survey can only provide a announcement [3] of the rebranding of Facebook to Meta in
snapshot of the standards landscape taken at the time of October 2021 popularized the closely related term metaverse,
submission of the manuscript. a “hybrid of today’s online social experiences, sometimes
expanded into three dimensions or projected into the
Keywords – Augmented reality (AR), extended reality physical world.” We contend that both the pandemic and the
(XR), metaverse, SDO, specification, standard, rebranding have served as catalysts to bringing these
standardization, survey, virtual reality (VR) technologies and their capabilities and application scenarios
to the attention of a broader audience.
1. INTRODUCTION
Growing interest in and adoption of XR go hand in hand with
The past two years have highlighted, perhaps more than ever, calls for interoperability, to avoid market fragmentation,
the key role of information and communication technologies create a level playing field which provides access to new
(ICTs) in managing disruptions brought about by global markets, and through economies of scale, which can help
challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. reduce costs for all: manufacturers, service providers, and
consumers.
As people have shifted behavior, reduced their face-to-face
interactions and avoided gatherings, events, travel and public In this paper, we introduce the organizations responding to
transportation, access to broadband networks helped those these calls for XR standards and categorize and summarize
connected to move some of their physical interactions online, their respective deliverables.
to the virtual space.
The work is based on a review of related literature, including
Work From Home or “WFH” emerged as perhaps the most [4, 5], study of the documentation of the standardization
prominent outcome of this shift, leaving office spaces empty. groups covered, discussions with individuals involved in the
The download figures of online meeting applications such as activities described, and our own personal experience in the
Microsoft Teams or Zoom have skyrocketed. In no time, ITU.
physical distancing and confinement changed the way we
teach and learn, work out, attend academic conferences, and While aiming to be comprehensive, we note that this survey
engage in trade shows or standards meetings, usually can only provide a snapshot of the standards landscape taken
comprising real and/or virtual elements. at the time of submission of the manuscript in September
2022.
Coined long before the pandemic, and not limited to virtual
background pictures and (augmented reality) face filters in
video conferences, the term extended reality, or XR for short,
saw a strong growth in interest and attention over the past
two years. In one of its most recent Recommendations [1],

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