Extended reality for biomedicine

Extended reality (XR) refers to an umbrella of methods that allows users to be immersed in a 3D or a 4D (spatial + temporal) virtual environment to various extents, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). Whereas VR allows a user to be fully immersed in a virtual environment, AR and MR overlay virtual objects onto the real physical world. The immersion and interaction of XR provide unparalleled opportunities to extend our world beyond conventional lifestyles. Although XR has extensive applications in fields such as entertainment and education, its numerous applications in biomedicine create transformative opportunities in both fundamental research and health care. This Primer outlines XR technology from instrumentation to software computation methods, delineating the biomedical applications that have been advanced by state-of-the-art techniques. We further describe the technical advances overcoming current limitations in XR and its applications, providing an entry point for professionals and trainees to thrive in this emerging field.