Emerging Technologies Institute

ETI Xtended Reality (XR) Lab

The XR Lab is a workspace for XR meetings, demos, exhibits, and a visitor stop.

VR Lab Location & Hours - 2025 Fall

• Room 4220
• Mondays and Wednesdays, 12:30PM - 5PM

Scope of the VR Lab

The VR Lab is used as a space for the following activites:

• Explore XR technologies
• Test both XR hardware and XR software
• Share information across campus
• Provide training for all Foothill College faculty, staff, and students
• Support early adopters of XR curriculums
• Provide VR exhibits and XR demos in both the Los Altos Hills and Sunnyvale Foothill College campuses
• Provide VR exhibits and XR demos for Foothill College events, such as Day On The Hill and Possible Self
• Provide VR exhibits and XR demos for Foothill College Science Learning Institute (SLI) sponsored events, including events for youths from various local organziations.

Foothill College XR Lexicon

Various sources provide variations of what Xtended Reality (XR) means, as is it a fluid and apidly evolving technology.  Below we provide Foothill College definitions of what XR means, according to our agreed interpretation here at Foothill College, so we all have a common understanding, as we build the foundational components of our XR Lab. 

High-level Definition

Xtended Reality is a computer-generated interactive environment. 

Virtual Reality Types

For purposes of communication at Foothill College, we propose four basic types of XR.

• Non-Immersive XR: User engages with a computer-generated environment using XR-external controls only. An example is a video game.   
• Semi-Immersive XR: User engages with a computer-generated environment using both XR-external and XR-internal controls. also referred to as Augmented Reality (AR). 
• Fully-Immersive XR: User engages with a computer-generated environment using XR-internal controls only. Currently, requires a headset.
• Holographic XR: User engages with a computer-generated 3D projected environment using both VR-external and VR-internal controls. Degree of VR immersiveness depends on the level of interaction driven by VR-external and VR-internal controls.  

XR Communities

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The XR Lab, along with eight other technology labs, make up the Emerging Technologies Institute (ETI).

Learn about all the ETI labs here.