A facilitator adjusts a headset for a seated learner in a workshop room.

XR / Headsets and devices

Headsets and devices for immersive training

Which device does what, which programs run on each, and what a fleet needs, each on its own page.

Which device does what

Match the reality to the device

A scenario that replaces the room needs a headset; one that keeps it needs a headset that sees the room; an added layer reaches a phone or a pair of glasses.

Reality	Headset	Smart glasses	Phone or tablet
Virtual reality	Meta Quest 3, Quest Pro, PICO, VIVE and Varjo, Vision Pro	Needs a headset: the room is replaced	Needs a headset
Mixed reality	Meta Quest 3, Vision Pro, Quest Pro, Android XR, PICO, VIVE and Varjo	Needs a headset that sees the room	A phone through its camera, for a lighter version
Augmented reality	Android XR, Vision Pro, in passthrough	Smart glasses, hands free	iPhone, iPad and Android, the widest reach

Every device, on its own page

Pick the device your program will run on

An inclusion scenario for practising supportive conversation.

Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S

A wheelchair user gestures in a scenario.

Apple Vision Pro: the room kept in view

Meta Quest Pro: eye and face tracking

Inside the Mater build: an older patient sits up in a hospital bed, a meal tray across the blanket, curtains drawn beside him.

PICO: enterprise fleets and education

Inside the simulation: a person wearing a mixed-reality headset stands facing the viewer beside dark glowing consoles, a window onto floodlit plant structures at night.

VIVE and Varjo: professional simulation

A colour passthrough view: the real room kept, digital panels added to it.

Android XR: mixed reality by default

A man in smart glasses looks across a gallery of ceramics as colour halos surround them. A VR training scenario for augmented reality.

Smart glasses: augmented reality, hands free

A tablet shows coloured shapes among kitchen objects. A rapid prototyping scenario for fast builds, from idea to working product.

Phones and tablets: the device in the pocket

Before you buy

Start with the devices you already have

Most programs begin on hardware an organisation already owns, and the count is agreed at planning because sessions run in turns.

Facilitators hand over an XR practice session in a workshop room. — A headset session beside the equipment trolley.

Your headsets, ours, a partner’s, or none

Headsets and equipment sets out who brings the headsets, how to clean them between users and what IT will ask. Practice with an AI roleplay partner runs in a browser with no headset at all.

A facilitator briefs participants in a workshop room.

Which headset for which program

PTR VR Library titles run on standalone headsets such as Meta Quest and PICO, so the training programs built on them start there. A scenario set in your real room is a custom build for a headset that sees it, scoped as an XR fast build.

Questions

What do buyers ask before choosing a device?

Short answers, each with a link to the page that answers in full.

Two people inspect the headset lenses. A VR training scenario for what is virtual reality. — Inspecting the headset lenses.

Do we need to buy headsets at all?

Sessions can run on headsets you own, through a partner trainer, or with no headset in a browser. Who supplies headsets for a session PTR runs is settled when the pilot is planned; how a pilot runs covers the stages.

A facilitator explains the spectrum to two people standing where a plain gallery room gives way to a virtual landscape. A VR training scenario for what is extended reality. — A room gives way to a virtual landscape.

VR, mixed reality or augmented reality: which do we need?

Decide by how much of the real room the lesson needs in view. VR, AR or MR sets out the difference, and the table above names the devices for each.

Practice on a monitor, a laptop or a phone. An AI roleplay scenario for AI roleplay and practice. — Practice on a laptop, monitor or phone.

Can the same scenario reach people without a headset?

It can: PTR’s practice, twin and augmented reality products run in a browser, and phones and tablets carry an augmented reality layer through the camera.