Visual extensions are the physical display formats a runtime environment can be presented through. Where the environment is the content and the software suite is the tooling, extensions are the surfaces an audience actually encounters in the world.
Seven formats are documented.
01Projection formats
Holographic projection. Three-dimensional images projected into space, used for advertising and attention-capture where a conventional screen would be ignored. Suited to lobbies, retail floors, and trade-show stands.
Cinematic projection mapping. Also called spatial augmented reality or video mapping. Visual content is projected onto irregular surfaces — building facades, sculptures, any three-dimensional object — with the projection aligned to the object's contours so the structure appears to transform. This is the format for large-scale outdoor and architectural activations.
Holographic fan display. A rotating fan-like device with an LED array that projects sequential images to create the appearance of a holographic image or video floating in mid-air. Physically small and self-contained, which makes it the most portable of the projection formats.
02Interactive surfaces
Immersive kiosk directory. Interactive digital displays for navigating a physical space — malls, airports, large venues. They extend a conventional wayfinding directory with touch interaction, 3D visualization, and multimedia content.
Digital touch screen display. A touch-sensitive display panel that combines visual output with direct-touch input, letting a visitor manipulate content by touching it. The DFX Lightwave in the hardware line is a device in this category.
03Personal and wearable formats
Mobile device implementation. Augmented reality delivered through a phone or tablet: digital information, virtual objects, and interactive elements overlaid on the live camera view. This is the lowest-friction format, since the audience supplies the hardware.
Interactive augmented wearables. Extended-reality wearables that combine AR or VR content with physical interfaces and sensors, giving the wearer a more direct means of interacting with the digital layer.
04Choosing a format
The decision is driven by the venue and the audience's proximity, not by the content:
- Passing audience at distance — projection mapping or holographic projection.
- Passing audience up close — holographic fan or touch screen.
- Audience that will stop and navigate — kiosk directory.
- Audience already holding a device — mobile implementation.
- Audience being equipped by the operator — wearables.
Content authored for one format rarely transfers cleanly to another. A projection-mapped facade and a phone-based AR overlay have different framing, resolution, and interaction assumptions, so plan the format before the build rather than after.