--- title: "Learn XR and AI: plain-language guides for decision-makers" description: "Clear, practical guides to virtual, augmented and mixed reality, artificial intelligence and rapid prototyping, so you can choose the right technology." canonical: https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn --- Learn # XR and AI, explained simply Extended reality, artificial intelligence and rapid prototyping each cover several different things at once. These guides define each one, compare the formats side by side, and mark where each fits and where it does not. A cafe scenario for practising supported movement. ## Written for the people who have to choose These guides are for the people [choosing technology](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/choosing-the-right-technology) in healthcare, government, education and enterprise, with the limits stated as plainly as the benefits. Each one is short, defines its term, and ends with the questions that decide whether it is the right fit. ## XR basics Extended reality runs from a digital label on a phone screen to a room that has been replaced entirely. The guides below take one format each. [What is XR? One word for the whole spectrum: how immersive tools differ from a flat screen.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/xr/what-is-xr) [What is virtual reality? A room you cannot stage, and can practise in anyway: spatial, procedural and conversational practice in a headset.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/xr/what-is-virtual-reality) [What is augmented reality? A label on the real thing: digital overlays on your view of the physical world through a phone, a tablet or light glasses.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/xr/what-is-augmented-reality) [What is mixed reality? A hologram beside real equipment: physical surroundings and digital objects sharing the same room in real time.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/xr/what-is-mixed-reality) [VR vs AR vs MR. The same office, three ways to see it: a side-by-side comparison before choosing one.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/xr/vr-vs-ar-vs-mr) [Branching scenarios and AI characters. A written branch or an AI partner: which suits the practice.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/xr/branching-scenarios-and-ai-characters) ## AI basics AI means systems that learn patterns from large amounts of data, then use those patterns to write text, sort information, recognise an image or suggest a response. The guides below cover what that does well, where it fails, and what a digital twin is. [What is AI? Plain language, no magic: how modern systems learn from data, what they do well, and why human oversight stays essential.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/ai/what-is-ai) [What is a digital twin? Two meanings, two very different rooms: the engineering model of a physical system, and the conversational twin that answers in a person's own words.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/ai/what-is-a-digital-twin) [AI and XR. A character that answers back inside the scene: how language and voice systems make practice adapt to the learner.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/ai/ai-and-xr) [AI for training and roleplay. The conversation you can run again: a private, low-stakes place to practise difficult exchanges.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/ai/ai-training-roleplay) ## Comparing and deciding Start with the outcome, then where the audience will use it, then the devices and systems already in place. [Choosing the right technology. Decide by the room, not the acronym: VR, AR, MR, AI and rapid prototypes compared, with the questions to ask first.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/choosing-the-right-technology) [Frequently asked questions. The questions people ask before a session: formats, accessibility, target platforms and what happens to the data.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/faq) [Choosing a training provider. Four kinds of roleplay training provider, each described from its own site.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/choosing-a-roleplay-training-provider) ### The conversations staff rehearse Speaking up, hard conversations, the council counter and the support worker’s shift. Each guide sets out the rules and how to design the rehearsal. [Speaking up for safety. The concern and the response, rehearsed on both sides, with Mater’s own program evaluation.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/speaking-up-for-safety-training) [Difficult conversations. Feedback and performance conversations, and two published studies of VR diversity and inclusion training.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/difficult-conversations-training) [Council staff, de-escalation. Counter, enforcement and lone-visit rehearsals built around the safety system.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/council-staff-de-escalation-training) [NDIS worker training. From orientation to the participant’s plan, with England and New York compared.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/ndis-worker-training) A consultation across a table, tablet between them. ### And the question that comes before the technology Nobody has a virtual reality line in their budget. Every build PTR has delivered was paid for out of money already committed to something else, and the precedents are written up in one place. [How a first build gets paid for](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/how-a-first-build-gets-paid-for) ### The two lines every Australian hospital is assessed against The national standards a hospital is accredited under have one action about mandatory training and one about aggression at the bedside. Both are explained in the Commission's own words, with the source. [NSQHS Action 1.20, training. What the standard asks of a mandatory training program, and what an assessor looks for.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/nsqhs-action-1-20) [NSQHS Action 5.34, aggression. The line about the shift where somebody raises their voice, and how staff rehearse it.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/nsqhs-action-5-34)[Psychosocial hazards. What the codes ask of an employer, and where the hierarchy of controls puts practice.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/psychosocial-hazards)[Workplace violence, United States. Which United States rules require the training, how often, and the four that name practice as the method.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/workplace-violence-training-united-states)[Occupational violence, Australia. What WHS law asks of employers, state by state, and how staff practise it.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/occupational-violence-australia)[CPI training alternatives. How CPI, Mandt and VR or AI rehearsal differ, and how they fit together.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/cpi-training-alternatives)[Joint Commission, workplace violence. Goal 02.04.01 read element by element: who is trained, how often, and what a surveyor asks to see.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/joint-commission-workplace-violence)[Nevada, workplace violence. The statute that requires de-escalation practice with colleagues and a debrief of each session.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/nevada-workplace-violence-training)[Washington, health care. Eleven topics, ninety days from hire, and the one item that names hands-on practice or role play.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/washington-violence-prevention-training)[California SB 553. What the general industry law requires, and the health care standard that names de-escalation.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/california-sb-553-training)[New York retail safety. The six topics, the annual and biennial cycles, and whether the free State model is enough.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/new-york-retail-worker-safety-act)[Training records. The five fields a training record must carry, four retention periods, and who can ask to see it.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/workplace-violence-training-records)[Schools, de-escalation. Eight hours a year, five areas, and the one a regulator will not let you deliver online.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/school-de-escalation-training)[Does VR training work. What the controlled studies measured, and what they found.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/does-vr-training-work) ### What a reviewer and a developer each ask for next One page carries the identifiers, the processing locations, the consent position and the documents a procurement, clinical governance or security reviewer reads. Another carries the widget embed, its events, the machine-readable site and the PTR API and SDK. [Governance for regulated buyers](https://peopletechrevolution.com/about/governance)[Developers](https://peopletechrevolution.com/developers) ### Where the ideas on this hub turn into rooms Every term explained here has a place it happens: a choice between access methods, a technician beside an overlay, a facilitator among decision zones, two practice routes side by side. A wheelchair user weighs phone against controller. A technician points to a workshop overlay. A facilitator stands among decision zones. Two guides stand on separate practice routes. ## Written from the rooms, not about them The definitions on this hub come from sessions PTR has run and builds it has shipped, and each guide links to the work it draws on. PTR launches its VR Library in Townsville, July 2024. ### The Townsville launch The PTR VR Library launched at Smart Precinct NQ in Townsville in July 2024, in front of a full room. The guides explain the terms that room first heard that night. They cover what a headset does to a room, what a character that answers back is, and how to choose between them. Still deciding what fits your team? Ask our CEO Simon Lowe’s Digital Twin a question [Open the contact form](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn#contact) Related PTR work and further reading [XR overview. Everything PTR builds in VR, AR and MR, in one place.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr) [AI overview. Digital twins, roleplay practice and custom AI, with the guardrails around them.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/ai) [Fast Builds overview. Brief, Build, Test, Refine, Ship, and what you get at each step.](https://peopletechrevolution.com/fast-builds)