Immersive or spatial computing is an umbrella concept for a range of technologies that digitize the activities of machines, people and objects, and the environments in which they take place. Spatial computing was first defined in 2003 by MIT researcher Simon Greenwold in his graduate thesis as “human interaction with a machine in which the machine retains and manipulates referents to real objects and spaces”.

Augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality are just three examples of spatial computing (also known as immersive computing) where spatial computing glasses or headsets can be used to display virtual content to the wearer. GPS, QR codes or smart device speech recognition could also be considered applications of spatial computing.

In spatial computing the user no longer interacts with a computer as an outsider and is instead a participant in a 3D environment where space is no longer an abstract notion.