eXtended meta-uni-omni-Verse (XV): Introduction, taxonomy, and state-of-the-art

The term "virtual reality" has been in use since 1938, but the recent explosion of jargon, confusing new terminology, and the hype around a plethora of related "realities" (augmented, mediated, mixed, digital, etc.) have made it necessary to bring some order to these realities. There are also many "gray" areas between and beyond these realities, making it desirable to embrace an overarching vision. Throughout the world, many, including us, have chosen to use the framework of extended reality (XR) as a unifying concept to interpolate between the realities and to eXtrapolate beyond them. Together with XR, there is also XI (extended intelligence) for which the IEEE has convened the Council on eXtended Intelligence (CXI). A related concept is the metaverse, i.e., shared VR, introduced in 1974 as "metavision" and "metaveillance" and recently popularized by industry. In this article, we propose eXtended meta-uni-omni-Verse (XV) as an overarching term, concept, and taxonomy for shared (social) XR across all of the "verses," including the universe (physical reality, i.e., atoms), the metaverse (virtuality, i.e., bits), the omniverse and multiverse, etc. We also briefly outline the state-of-the-art in the various realities and verses covered by XV. Our main findings highlight the necessity for additional investigation into the potential and worth of XV technologies. This entails improving XV systems through standardization and integration efforts, broadening their uses, developing specialized solutions for those with disabilities and the elderly, and addressing the implications of XV to ensure its accessibility and benefits.