Differentiating AR, VR and MR
Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR)
AR refers to the overlaying of digital content to the real-world environment. It involves the addition of digital elements to a live view. In AR, users are able to see and interact with the real world while digital content is added to it.
On the other hand, VR is a fully virtual environment; it is an artificial digital environment that allows complete immersion that shuts out the physical world. Users are immersed in a computer-generated virtual environment, and have freedom of movement in advanced versions of VR.
MR (sometimes referred to as hybrid reality) creates an experience combining both real-world and digital objects, which interact. Virtual content is not only overlaid on the real environment (as in AR) but is anchored to and interacts with that environment. For example, a virtual object is aware of elements in the real world like table, trees, etc.
In mixed reality you can see virtual objects just like you can in augmented reality, but these objects can also interact with the real world.
This image briefly outlines the differences in AR, VR and MR:
Image source: RubyGarage