VR vs AR vs MR: what is the difference?

Two questions separate them: does the real room stay visible, and do digital objects react to it.

Two people compare three technology formats.

Replace, add, or anchor

VR replaces the room and cuts the wearer off from it. AR leaves it visible and lays text, diagrams or 3D models over the top, without the two interacting.

MR also leaves it visible, and lets digital objects anchor to real surfaces, hide behind real obstacles and react to the space around them.

Comparison table: VR vs AR vs MR

The practical questions answered for each format. Every column heading opens the page that explains that technology in full.

Two people display an object partly hidden. A VR training scenario for VR vs AR vs MR differences. — A digital panel, partly hidden behind a monitor.

	VR	AR	MR
Physical world visible?	No, blocked by an enclosed headset	Yes, with overlays added	Yes, and virtual objects react to it
Immersion level	Highest: total visual and often audio immersion	Lowest: an addition, not a replacement	In between: a layer anchored to the real room
Typical hardware	Enclosed headset, standalone or PC-tethered	Smartphone, tablet or optical smart glasses	Passthrough or see-through headset with depth sensors
Best suited when	The scenario is high-risk or hard to access, and full attention plus repetition matter	People need on-the-job guidance while still watching their surroundings	People need a real object and rich digital detail at the same time
Example interaction	Practising a scripted conversation with an animated character in a recreated room	Pointing a phone at a machine to see a repair step overlaid on it	A hologram sits on a real desk and ducks behind a real monitor as you move

A young woman wearing a VR headset faces a floating panel of three choices in an empty classroom, pausing mid-scenario to decide how she responds — Three choices, the classroom fully replaced.

The VR row, in one moment

An empty classroom that is not really there, three replies floating in it, and a learner deciding which to give. Nothing of the real room is visible, which is the whole point: the attention has nowhere else to go.

Key distinguishing factors

What decides which one suits a job: how cut off the learner is, whether the digital layer knows about the room, and what hardware people already own.

An instructor points down a training route. A first person VR training scenario for VR vs AR vs MR differences, seen through the headset. — **Immersion and physical isolation.** VR separates the learner from the physical room completely, which maximises focus for complex simulations. AR and MR keep situational awareness: the room, colleagues and hazards stay in view, which makes them safer in active operational environments.

A holographic ball passes behind a chair. A VR training scenario for mixed reality. — **Environmental awareness and occlusion.** In basic AR, graphics sit on top of the display and ignore physical objects between the user and the model. In MR, depth sensors let a hand or a chair naturally conceal a virtual object behind it, and spatial mapping lets virtual items rest on real floors and tables.

A learner holds a phone above pipework. A rapid prototyping scenario for mobile experiences, from idea to working product. — **Hardware accessibility.** AR has the lowest barrier because it runs on the phones and tablets staff and students already own. VR and MR generally need a head-mounted display: higher immersion, and dedicated hardware to manage.

Choosing the right technology for your organisation

There is no ranking here. The choice comes out of the training goal, the room it happens in, and the budget.

Inside the simulation: an electrician stands beside an isolator, one hand raised in a clear stop gesture, a blue outline on the switch. — **Choose virtual reality when** the scenario involves physical danger, such as fire safety, high-voltage equipment or confined-space entry, where a mistake in the real world is hazardous or expensive, or when learners need complete immersion in a place that cannot be physically accessed.

A learner and instructor display AR markers. A VR training scenario for augmented reality. — **Choose augmented reality when** workers need contextual guidance while doing everyday tasks, such as field equipment maintenance, warehouse picking or remote technical support, or when learning has to reach a large audience on the phones they already carry.

Three people examine forms above a mannequin. A VR training scenario for what is mixed reality. — **Choose mixed reality when** learners need real tools and digital content at the same time, such as medical students practising on a physical manikin with virtual anatomy overlaid, or engineers evaluating a full-scale digital prototype inside a real facility.

In practice at PTR

PTR delivers across VR, AR and MR. The format is chosen from the problem rather than from a preference.

A clinical scenario for practising conversation.

Most of the evaluated work is VR

The largest body of evaluated case work is virtual reality, such as Mater Education's "Speaking with Good Judgement" program, because that is where the research literature is deepest.

AR runs from marker-based experiences you can open on a phone through to guided overlays on real equipment. MR anchors holographic people and objects in the room the learner is already standing in.

Ask any vendor, including this one, to show what they have delivered and evaluated in the format they are proposing. Mater Education case study, PTR's augmented reality page, PTR's mixed reality page.

Common overlapping scenarios

Modern headsets increasingly support more than one format, moving between a fully virtual room and a view that brings the physical one back.

A collaborator rotates a model on a desk. A first person VR training scenario for VR vs AR vs MR differences, seen through the headset. — A pump model on a real desk.

One headset, two formats

Many standalone headsets now have full-colour video passthrough, so a single device works as a fully immersive VR simulator and switches to an MR workspace with a double tap.

Organisations often combine formats: mobile AR for broad introductory learning, and VR or MR headsets for advanced practical simulation.

To see how organisations evaluate and apply these formats, visit the XR overview.

Practising a conversation in the office

An office scenario for practising conversation. — A colleague steadies her through a first session.

The short version

The fastest way to tell them apart is two questions about the room.

Three people handle a real training tool. A VR training scenario for VR vs AR vs MR differences. — A real control panel under a digital layer.

Can you see the room, and does it react?

Can you still see the real room, and if so, do digital objects actually react to it? No to both means VR. Yes to seeing it but no reaction means AR. Yes to both means MR.

Still working out which one fits?

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