What Spatial Computing Actually Is: Defining the Boundary Between Screen Computing and Computing in Space

This paper argues that the real divide in computing history sits between screen computing, which presents information on a flat rectangle the eyes must aim at, and spatial computing, which places computing inside the three-dimensional space around a person's body, not between virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. Computing moved from punch cards to text terminals to graphical interfaces to touchscreens, and this paper reads that whole sequence as removing one layer of translation between a person's intention and a machine's response at each step, rather than adding a new device category. Spatial computing is presented as the next step in that same sequence. The paper states one definition: spatial computing is digital computing in space, where things possible and impossible, in both the digital and physical world, can be done. It introduces the term spatial world for the place this computing produces once it works, kept distinct from the computing itself. One section separates engineering quality from category, arguing that tracking, room mapping, occlusion, and anchoring describe how well a device works, not what kind of device it is, so excelling at all four never proves a device is doing spatial computing and failing at all four never proves it isn't. The paper closes by applying this definition to how shoppers, journalists, and regulators currently sort headsets and glasses, treating questions about how synthetic or how real a display looks as choices made after the category question, not separate technologies each needing its own evaluation. It is the first paper in a five-part series on spatial computing.本文提出，计算历史上的真正分界并非存在于虚拟现实、增强现实与混合现实之间，而是位于屏幕计算（screen computing）与空间计算（spatial computing）之间：前者将信息呈现在用户视线需聚焦的扁平矩形屏幕上，后者则将计算嵌入人体周围的三维物理空间中。 计算技术的发展历程从穿孔卡片、文本终端、图形界面一路演进至触摸屏，本文将这一完整演进序列解读为：每一步都在减少用户意图与机器响应之间的一层翻译环节，而非新增一类设备。空间计算正是这一演进序列的下一阶段。 本文给出了空间计算的一则定义：空间计算是依托空间开展的数字计算，可在数字与物理双重世界中实现原本可能或不可能完成的任务。本文还提出了“空间世界（spatial world）”这一术语，用于指代空间计算落地后所构建的场域，并将其与计算技术本身明确区分开来。 其中一部分章节将工程性能与设备类别剥离开来，指出追踪（tracking）、室内建图（room mapping）、遮挡处理（occlusion）与空间锚定（anchoring）描述的是设备的性能优劣，而非设备的类别属性。因此，若某设备在这四项指标上表现优异，并不足以证明其正在运行空间计算；反之，若四项指标均不达标，也不能断言其未开展空间计算。 本文结尾将上述定义应用于当前消费者、媒体从业者与监管机构对头显（headsets）和智能眼镜（glasses）的分类逻辑中，指出关于显示效果是偏向合成还是更贴近真实的问题，应是确定设备类别之后才需考量的选择，而非需要单独评估的不同技术类型。本文是关于空间计算的五篇系列论文的开篇之作。