Category: webvr

Posted on

Get a Taste of WebVR on Vive with ‘Puzzle Rain’

With the news that WebVR is now supported in Google’s official Android Chrome browser and Daydream-supported phones have the ability to pop into virtual reality experiences just by clicking on a simple hyperlink, we’re more impatient than ever for WebVR to make its way to the standard Chrome browser for PC. But did you know you can try out the magic of WebVR experiences on HTC Vive right now? Easily one of the coolest VR experiences to date may only be a click away.

Puzzle Rain is a hands-on musical journey where little singing blocks combine to create a beautiful chorus. Awaken all of your little blocky buddies and put them in the correct positions to revive the world’s desolate landscape, and bring rain and happiness back to the Universe.

Puzzle Rain is a simple little experience, but it illustrates just how easy it is to inject a little happiness into a dreary day—and all of it just by clicking a link and popping on your VR headset.

There’s really only a few hoops to jump through first if you want to get into WebVR apps like Puzzle Rain or badass laser shooter mini-game A-Blast. It’s as simple as installing either the latest Chromium VR build, or Firefox Nightly. Both include WebVR, but because they’re not official versions, they may not be stable and are generally not suitable for your everyday browsing needs (hence the impatience for official, stable builds).

Firefox Instructions:

  1. Install Firefox Nightly
  2. Download version 1.0.2 of the openvr_api.dll file from the OpenVR GitHub repository: 32-bit, 64-bit (preferred, if running 64-bit PC).
  3. Save the openvr_api.dll file somewhere on your computer where the user running Firefox can read it (e.g., c:\openvr\).
  4. In Firefox Nightly, navigate to about:config; change the value of dom.vr.openvr.enabled to true and gfx.vr.openvr-runtime to the full path of the openvr_api.dll file (e.g., c:\openvr\openvr_api.dll).
  5. Restart Firefox Nightly.

Chromium Instructions:

  1. Install experimental build of Chromium.
  2. In the URL bar, load chrome://flags#enable-webvr and toggle the Enable WebVR flag.
  3. In the URL bar, load chrome://flags#enable-gamepad-extensions and toggle the Enable Gamepad Extensions flag.
  4. Launch the SteamVR application.

Once you’ve installed either web browser and have properly enabled WebVR, just click the link below—or any WebVR link you come across!

Play ‘Puzzle Rain’

The post Get a Taste of WebVR on Vive with ‘Puzzle Rain’ appeared first on Road to VR.

Posted on

WebVR offiziell für Chrome für Android gestartet

Google, Firefox, Microsoft und Oculus arbeiten an einer WebVR Lösung, damit Virtual Reality Inhalte direkt im Browser gestartet werden können. Der Vorteil einer WebVR Seite ist, dass die Inhalte nicht heruntergeladen werden müssen, da sie direkt beim Surfen aktivierbar sind. Somit soll der Zugang zu einfachen Anwendungen und Portalen erleichtert und Virtual Reality stärker in den Alltag eingebunden werden. Jetzt schafft es die WebVR Integration von Google auch in die finale Version des Chrome Browsers für Android und somit steht die Funktion für alle Menschen bereit.

WebVR offiziell für Chrome für Android gestartet

Wenn ihr heute den Chrome Browser aktualisiert, dann wird das entsprechende Update direkt auf eurem Smartphone landen. Im Moment können aber nur Daydream Nutzer von der Integration profitieren, denn andere VR Brillen werden noch nicht offiziell unterstützt. Folgende Webseiten mit WebVR Support warten bereits auf euren Besuch:

Doch auch wenn Google mit der Veröffentlichung einen wichtigen Meilenstein erreicht hat, so muss auch weiterhin noch viel passieren, damit WebVR auch ein erfolgreiches Konzept wird. Derzeit gibt es kaum WebVR Inhalte die interessant sind und die Beschränkung auf Google Daydream ist ebenfalls eine zu starke Limitierung. Google hat aber bereits angekündigt, dass der Cardboard Support auf dem Weg sei. Außerdem sollen zukünftig auch Virtual Reality Brillen für den PC im vollen Umfang unterstützt werden. Das Ziel von Google ist es, dass WebVR irgendwann für jeden Menschen mit einer VR Brille zugänglich ist. Außerdem arbeitet Google auch an einer VR Shell, damit auch herkömmliche Webseiten in Virtual Reality besser erfahrbar sind.

Der Beitrag WebVR offiziell für Chrome für Android gestartet zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

Posted on

Google Brings VR to the Web on Chrome for Daydream

Access to virtual reality (VR) content is getting easier and easier, with multiple head-mounted displays (HMDs) now available and a wealth of apps and services now supporting the medium. Today Google has announced WebVR support on Chrome for use with Daydream View and Daydream-ready smartphones like Pixel or ZTE’s Axon 7.

This update will allow users to surf the web and when they find a VR experience they want to view, simply pop their device into the headset to enjoy the immersive experience. Even if they don’t have the headset they’ll be able to view and control it using their finger.

Sketchfab - Webvr - spacedome

While there’s not masses of WebVR content available Google has highlighted some of the best to get users started. For those interested in architecture, celebrity homes, museums and more there’s Matterport.  Award-winning content creator Within has a mixture of documentaries, short films and other 360-degree experiences. Or for user generated 3D models and scenes there’s Sketchfab. Utilising the Daydream remote for a range of gameplay option is the WebVR Lab from PlayCanvas. Or checkout the Bear 71 interactive documentary, produced by the National Film Board of Canada, which blurs the lines between the wild world and the wired one.

WebVR is set to be a big part of VR’s future, enabling views ways to explore content. Other companies working on WebVR applications include Oculus with its Carmel browser. Supporting both Rift and Gear VR, Oculus launched a developer preview for the mobile headset back in December, available as a Gallery app on the Oculus Store.

For all the latest WebVR and Daydream news, keep reading VRFocus.

Posted on

WebVR Officially Launches on Chrome for Android with Daydream Support

Experimental builds of Chrome for Android have seen ongoing development of WebVR functionality, but today is a major milestone as WebVR comes to the stable branch of Chrome on Android—that’s the same version that everyone on Android sees in Google’s Play Store and the same version that’s been installed between 1 and 5 billion times. Now those with a Daydream supported phone and headset can step into virtual reality experiences directly through the browser.

WebVR’s massive potential is that it allows VR experiences to be hosted and run directly from the web, just like any other website. That means high accessibility and easy navigability, allowing VR users to traverse from one VR experience to the next without installing individual apps for each experience—imagine if you had to install a different app to visit every website; the web would not be nearly as useful without being able to jump from one hyperlink to the next, quickly and seamlessly.

Major industry players like Firefox, Google, Oculus, and Microsoft are on board with WebVR, and Chrome’s stable branch update now with WebVR built-in is a huge step for what these companies hope will one day become an official W3C web standard.

Today, anyone who updates or installs Chrome on their Android device will now have WebVR functionality built in, allowing those with Daydream compatible phones and headsets to pull VR directly from the web.

within-webvrVR video company Within has created a WebVR-ready video player which lets you navigate and watch their library of 360 degree videos with your Daydream headset and controller. If you don’t have a Daydream headset, the website flawlessly falls back to a layout that works with a mouse on desktop or a touchscreen on a smartphone. It’s the WebVR vision incarnate—a single website that’s accessible all the way from the most basic flat screen to immersive VR headsets.

More WebVR-enabled Example Sites:

Now, that said, there’s still work to be done on WebVR before it achieves its true potential. First, Daydream is presently the only supported headset for Chrome on Android (though Google says Cardboard support is on the way). And while other browser makers have committed to making WebVR part of their web stack, WebVR support in most browsers (including Chrome on desktop) is still under development, and it will take some time before anyone installing Chrome, FireFox, or Internet Explorer on desktop will simply be able to pop on their headset and jump into VR websites. But it’s on the way.

WebVR also has to contend with the challenge of browser-based performance compared to native apps, which have for a long time had the upper hand. And while browsers have made major strides in the 3D rendering performance department in the last few years, there’s still more to do.

SEE ALSO
Google Shows HTC Vive Running at 90 FPS in Chrome with WebVR

While the Within WebVR website works impressively well from a conceptual standpoint, the graphics are clearly not as sharp and the performance not yet as smooth as a native app counterpart for Daydream. However, those working behind the scenes on WebVR tell me they believe they’ll be able to reach near-parity in visual quality for many types of apps (though maybe not the latest and greatest AAA VR title).

This is a (big) first step for VR on Chrome. Google is also in the process of developing a ‘VR Shell’ to make legacy websites browsable in VR too.

The post WebVR Officially Launches on Chrome for Android with Daydream Support appeared first on Road to VR.

Posted on

Google Brings Stable WebVR Support To Chrome on Daydream

Google Brings Stable WebVR Support To Chrome on Daydream

Late last month Google opened the doors to its Daydream mobile VR ecosystem up to developers, and now it’s doing the same for the web.

The tech giant today is releasing a stable build of WebVR support in the Chrome browser for Daydream compatible phones and headsets. That means when reaching a WebVR compatible page, you can slot your phone into a Daydream View — or Huawei’s upcoming headset — and view that content in VR, be it a 360-degree video or a full virtual experience.

You won’t need to download anything to access these experiences; they offer a quick way to jump into VR as naturally as you surf the web itself. You can jump into 360 YouTube videos with no need to access the Daydream app, for example.

To celebrate the launch, Google provided a few examples of where to find the best WebVR content so far. Check out Bear 71 for an interactive VR documentary, Matterport for a library of 360 photos and videos, Within for 360-degree movies, Sketchfab for user-created content and, interestingly, Playcanvas’ WebVR Lab, which appears to integrate the Daydream controller into an immersive experience.

The feature’s been a long time coming for Chrome, and it’s not finished yet; stable support for Cardboard and wider phone integration will be coming at a later date, and Chrome on Windows still only has experimental support at this point in time.

Google isn’t the only one pushing WebVR right now; Samsung is supporting the API with its internet browser for Gear VR, and Oculus is working on its very own browser, codenamed Carmel, that will work with both Gear VR and the Rift. While there’s still years of development ahead, eventually WebVR should grow to be a widely-available feature on a range of browsers and headsets. Last month we also reported on the reveal of a new tool from Google itself that would help optimize VR on the web.

Tagged with: , , ,

Posted on

Google: Draco für Virtual Reality Inhalte

Zum Ende des letzten Jahres mauserte sich WebVR zu einem wichtigen Thema für Virtual Reality. Der Vorteil an WebVR ist, dass die Inhalte nicht heruntergeladen werden müssen, sondern direkt im Browser verwendet werden können. Oculus arbeitet mit Carmel an einem eigenen VR Browser, während Google das Feature in den Chrome Browser einbaut. In diesem Jahr wird WebVR ein Thema für alle relevanten Plattformen werden und Google hat ein Verfahren für die Komprimierung von Inhalten in der Hinterhand, welches diverse Vorteile für WebVR bietet.

Draco für Virtual Reality Inhalte

Die Bereitstellung von ansehnlichen Virtual Reality Content über den Browser ist kein einfaches Unterfangen. Die Szenen müssen mit 90 Bildern oder 45 Bildern pro Sekunde dargestellt werden und der User sollte nicht sehen, wie die Welt im Hintergrund nachgeladen wird. Ein Tool für die Komprimierung der Inhalte ist also Pflicht, doch ein solches Tool muss auch schnell genug arbeiten.

Mit Draco hatte Google mit Chrome Media ein Verfahren entwickelt, welches die Komprimierung von komplexen 3D Modellen ermöglicht und als Open-Source zum Download angeboten wird. Mit Draco werden also die Dateien kleiner und somit können diese auch einfacher über den Browser abgerufen werden. Im folgenden Video seht ihr einen Vergleich von Google zwischen Draco und GZIP:

Google hat die Entwicklung von Draco noch nicht abgeschlossen und das Unternehmen sagt, dass zukünftig noch schnellere Ladezeiten erreicht werden. Doch auch wenn WebVR einige Vorteile bietet, so sind wir skeptisch, ob WebVR schon in diesem Jahr zu einem Erfolg werden wird. Wenn die Partner von Microsoft die Virtual Reality Headsets für Windows 10 veröffentlichen, dann könnte eine deutlich größere Zielgruppe ins Spiel kommen, die eventuell auch ein verstärktes Interesse an dieser Technologie besitzt. Die Headsets für Windows 10 werden schon bei 300 US-Dollar starten und den Einstieg in VR erschwinglich machen, denn es wird auch kein High-End Rechner zum Betrieb benötigt werden.

(Quelle: Upload VR)

Der Beitrag Google: Draco für Virtual Reality Inhalte zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!