2-D: Short for two-dimensional. This term is an adjective for something in a flat world, meaning it has features that can be described in only two dimensions — width and length.
3-D: Short for three-dimensional. This term is an adjective for something that has features that can be described in three dimensions — height, width and length.
engineer: A person who uses science and math to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need.
graphics: (in computing) Images or video displayed on a computer screen or other digital media.
haptic: (adj.) Relating to the sense of touch.
levitation: The act of suspending or causing to float in air a person or object — seemingly in violation of gravity.
navigate: To find one’s way through a landscape using visual cues, sensory information (like scents), magnetic information (like an internal compass) or other techniques.
particle: A minute amount of something.
robot: A machine that can sense its environment, process information and respond with specific actions. Some robots can act without any human input, while others are guided by a human.
silicone: Heat-resistant substances that can be used in many different ways, including the rubber-like materials that provide a waterproof seal around windows and in aquariums. Some silicones serve as grease-like lubricants in cars and trucks. Most silicones, a type of molecule known as a polymer, are built around long chains of silicon and oxygen atoms.
sound wave: A wave that transmits sound. Sound waves have alternating swaths of high and low pressure.
spandex: A stretchy fabric made of polyurethane.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
ultrasound: (adj. ultrasonic) Sounds at frequencies above the range that can be detected by the human ear. Also the name given to a medical procedure that uses ultrasound to “see” within the body.
virtual: Being almost like something. An object or concept that is virtually real would be almost true or real — but not quite. The term often is used to refer to something that has been modeled by (or accomplished by) a computer using numbers, not by using real-world parts. So a virtual motor would be one that could be seen on a computer screen and tested by computer programming (but it wouldn’t be a three-dimensional device made from metal). (in computing) Things that are performed in or through digital processing and/or the internet. For instance, a virtual conference may be where people attended by watching it over the internet.
wave: A disturbance or variation that travels through space and matter in a regular, oscillating fashion.