Category: WebXR

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Mozilla Launches New Introductory WebXR App, ‘Hello WebXR’

Mozilla launched a new WebXR app called ‘Hello WebXR’, which is compatible with most headsets that use web browsers such as Oculus Browser on the Quest or Google Chrome on PC VR headsets. The app acts an an introductionary experience for those who are new to VR, showcasing the different types of content and interactions available on the platform.

The experience will work on any WebXR compatible browser on a headset, including Mozilla’s own VR browser Firefox Reality. Other browsers, such as the Oculus Browser on Oculus Quest or Google Chrome on Oculus Rift, also support WebXR and should work with the Mozilla Hello WebXR site.

The main hall environment is where you start Hello WebXR, and features a bunch of different objects to interact with. You can play the xylophone, look at some paintings, look at a Twitter feed displaying any tweets using #hellowebxr, and even spray some graffiti on the walls. The main hall also has some globes that will transport you to 360 degree panoramic scenes.

Three doors will teleport you from the main hall to other locations, where you can experience positional audio, look at some classic sculptures and walk around the top floor of a skyscraper.

Mozilla stated in a blog post that they expect the experience to grow over time, and develop it into “a sandbox that we could use to prototype new experiences and interactions.” To try out Hello WebXR for yourself, just head to this page on your WebXR-compatible headset.

We also recently interviewed an engineer from Mozilla, Diane Hosfelt, in our UploadVR virtual studio, where we talked about whether privacy is possible in VR’s future. Hosfelt also appeared as a guest on Episode 11 of The VR Download.

The post Mozilla Launches New Introductory WebXR App, ‘Hello WebXR’ appeared first on UploadVR.

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‘Moon Rider’ is a WebVR Game That’s Quietly Amassed Thousands of Daily Players

Moon Rider is a free VR rhythm game built on the WebVR standard which means it runs directly from a web browser rather than being downloaded and installed on a specific VR storefront. Its creators say the game has garnered thousands of daily players.

Launched in May 2019, Moon Rider is a relatively simple VR rhythm game, but its web-based foundation makes it as easy to play as visiting a website, and just as easy to share with others.

Want to see for yourself?

  • On Oculus Quest: just launch the browser and enter moonrider.xyz, click the ‘Enter VR button’ at the bottom right.
  • On PC VR headsets: Launch a WebVR compatible browser (Firefox currently has the most frictionless support) then ready your VR headset by launching its base software (Oculus desktop software or SteamVR for most), then visit moonrider.xyz and click the ‘Enter VR’ button at the bottom right.

And… viola! You’re playing.

Photo captured by Road to VR

It’s this web-like ease of access that’s the crux of WebVR (and its forthcoming successor, WebXR), and what’s allowed Moon Rider to organically reach a surprisingly large audience, says one of the game’s creators, Diego Marcos, who is also the founder of Supermedium which built a browser specifically for leveraging WebVR content on VR headsets.

Marcos tells Road to VR that Moon Rider is seeing somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 daily active users with an average session duration of 45 to 60 minutes with 50% player retention. That makes Moon Rider likely the leading WebVR game to date by those metrics.

“It’s head and shoulders above anything else in the [WebVR/WebXR] space,” Macros says.

Moon Rider is built on A-Frame (of which Marcos is a maintainer) a framework which makes it easier for web developers to build WebVR content (and WebXR, which brings AR into the mix).

“The message we wanted to send with Moon Rider is that A-Frame and the Web are now ready to deliver compelling VR content with user reach,” he added.

Like Moon Rider, some other seriously impressive VR web content has also been built atop A-Frame, like Supercraft, a Google Blocks-like VR environment builder with seamless web sharing, and Mozilla Hubs, a web-based social VR chatroom that works across almost any headset, smartphone, or computer.

Moon Rider itself is open source, giving developers an opportunity to see how it was built and to use it as a foundation for their own web-based VR experiments.

The post ‘Moon Rider’ is a WebVR Game That’s Quietly Amassed Thousands of Daily Players appeared first on Road to VR.

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VR Web Browser ‘Supermedium’ No Longer in Active Development

Supermedium, the team behind the native virtual reality browser that lets you interact with web-based VR content, says its namesake project is no longer in active development, and that it’s effectively been put “on ice” in search of something that consumers might use in VR on a daily basis.

According to an interview with German VR publication MIXED (German), the company says it’s “not actively working on Supermedium itself right now and exploring other projects.”

“We’ll try to continue to take our approach and design in directions into projects that we think people will want to use more,” a company spokesperson told MIXED. 

When asked whether the free VR web browser would receive any more updates, Supermedium’s creators say it probably won’t “in the incarnation of WebVR browser.”

“It’s on ice as it sorta works and is still up, but I think we’ll be trying to solve how to make something that people would want to use VR everyday for and solve a problem,” the spokesperson concluded.

SEE ALSO
Microsoft 'DreamWalker' Experiment Takes First Steps into Always-on World-scale VR

The company, also known as Super XYZ, is the very same behind VR web framework ‘A-Frame’ and was also a part of the original Mozilla team behind the WebVR initiative.

In July 2018, the company raised a seed investment round of $1.1 million, with funding coming from Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Boost VC, Anorak Ventures, Candela Partners, Social Starts, M Ventures, Seraph Group, Taimatsu, Outpost VC, Colopl Next, Shrug VC, Andrew Ogawa, and Cantos VC.

Supermedium is available on a range of PC VR headsets, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and Windows VR headsets. You’ll find it on Steam and the Oculus Store.

A special thanks goes out to MIXED for providing Road to VR with direct quotes in English.

The post VR Web Browser ‘Supermedium’ No Longer in Active Development appeared first on Road to VR.

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‘Firefox Reality’ VR Web Browser Comes to Oculus Quest

Mozilla has finally brought its made-for-VR web browser, Firefox Reality, to Oculus Quest.

In September of last year, the company initially released Firefox Reality on Oculus Go, Lenovo Mirage Solo, and Vive Focus (and other Vive Wave headsets) for free.

Now, according to a press statement, users on Quest can jump into the immersive web with what Mozilla calls “sharp text, high quality videos, and a seamless transition from 2D to 3D immersive modes.”

The company also boasts that Firefox Reality for Quest is “the best VR web browsing experience” due to Oculus Quest’s boost in performance and capabilities.

On all platforms however, Firefox Reality has Enhanced Tracking Protection enabled by default, which aims to protect users from tracking and collection of personal data by ad networks and tech companies. Mozilla additionally says the browser’s Enhanced Tracking Protection works in the background and “actually increase[s] the speed of the browser.”

In addition to voice search, Firefox Reality is currently available in 10 languages, including Japanese, Korean, Simplified & Traditional Chinese; the company says more languages are on the way.

In the next few months Mozilla says they’ll be rolling out support for WebXR, multi-window browsing, bookmarks sync, and more.

Download Firefox Reality for Quest here.

The post ‘Firefox Reality’ VR Web Browser Comes to Oculus Quest appeared first on Road to VR.

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VR Browser Firefox Reality now Supports Oculus Quest

Ever since the launch of Firefox Reality by Mozilla last year the company has been gradually scaling up the project by adding new features and support of devices like Microsoft’s HoloLens 2. Two of Oculus’ headsets support the virtual reality (VR) browser, Oculus Go and Gear VR, and today a third has been added to that list, Oculus Quest.

Firefox Reality

The Firefox Reality VR web browsing experience has been tailored to Oculus Quest’s performance capabilities so that you can use its 6 degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) control for anything on the app, whether that’s watching an immersive video or meeting up with friends in Mozilla Hubs.

Firefox Reality has a range of features such as Enhanced Tracking Protection which blocks sites from tracking you, collecting personal data for ad networks and tech companies. The option is enabled by default with Janice Von Itter, Staff Program Manager at Mozilla saying in a blog post: “We strongly believe privacy shouldn’t be relegated to optional settings. As an added bonus, these protections work in the background and actually increase the speed of the browser.”

And to make sure Firefox Reality can be enjoyed by as many people as possible the app currently supports 10 different languages, including Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Wider language support is on the way, plus Firefox Reality can be voice-controlled to search the web instead of typing, generally making the process faster and easier.

Firefox Reality

There’s also more on the way. In 2019 Mozilla plans on rolling out support for the WebXR specification, multi-window browsing, bookmarks sync and SteamVR. The latter was announced back in April, which would allow any headset compatible with SteamVR to use the app, such as Oculus Rift/ Rift S, HTC Vive and Valve Index. This addition is expected this summer.

This week has seen several other updates for Oculus Quest including Oculus Venues and improved tracking accuracy for the Oculus Touch controllers.

Firefox Reality is available for free via Oculus Store for Oculus Quest, Oculus Go and Gear VR; Viveport for HTC Vive Focus and the Google Store for Daydream View. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Firefox Reality, reporting back with Mozilla’s latest updates.

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Mozilla Announces ‘Firefox Reality’ AR Web Browser for Hololens 2

Today at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain Mozilla announced a collaboration with Microsoft to bring the Firefox Reality web browser to the recently revealed Microsoft HoloLens 2.

While Mozilla hasn’t mentioned a release date yet, the company says they’re currently working with community developers of the programming language Rust to bring “the language and runtime that enable us to deliver a more secure experience to the HoloLens platforms.”

Mozilla says they’ll build on previous efforts—namely their work on the developer build Firefox browser for Magic Leap One—and then bring their web platform Mozilla Servo to HoloLens 2 when it is available this summer.

Image courtesy Mozilla

Much like Apple’s WebKit for Safari, Servo is an open source browser engine that will form the foundation of the company’s next generation WebXR Firefox Reality web browser.

First announced back in April 2018, Mozilla developed Firefox Reality to be a cross-platform, open sourced web browser not only capable of delivering VR/AR headset-users standard web pages, but also immersive games, videos, environments, and experiences from around the web.

SEE ALSO
3 Impressive WebVR Examples Worth Checking Out With Firefox's New Support for Vive and Rift

At the time of this writing, Firefox for Magic Leap One currently only offers support for standard 2D web pages, so there’s undoubtedly still work to be done before a firm release date can be set for ‘the full Firefox XR experience’ on HoloLens 2, which would necessarily include the burgeoning 3D web as well.

“Building on Microsoft’s years of experience with the current HoloLens among enterprises and consumers, we will work together to learn from developers and users about bringing AR content to the web,” says Lars Bergstrom, director of engineering at Mozilla’s mixed reality program.

Mozilla says they’re continuing their focus with Firefox Reality to deliver a “safe, private experience with open, accessible technology.”

The company will be detailing new builds of Firefox Reality for HoloLens 2 via their blog. Interested developers can also get involved in Mozilla projects by taking part in the company’s Servo Starters program.

The post Mozilla Announces ‘Firefox Reality’ AR Web Browser for Hololens 2 appeared first on Road to VR.

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WebXR Device API Working Draft Published

WebXR WebVR

Standards group W3C moved VR and AR on the Web forward this week with the publication of a draft specification.

The WebXR Device API “describes support for accessing virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices, including sensors and head-mounted displays, on the Web.” When paired with 3D content made in WebGL, the API can turn a standard URL or web address into a portal to another world.

Most VR developers build interactive virtual worlds in engines like Unreal and Unity. Programmers often write the underlying logic of those worlds in a language like C#. WebXR (which builds on earlier work called WebVR) could open up VR and AR development to developers familiar with Web-based tools like Amazon Sumerian, or languages like Javascript.

“The WebXR Device API will provide the first opportunity for AR and VR to help people at web scale,” explained Trevor Flowers, chair of the Immersive Web Community Group. “It will be wild to see how millions of web creators across the globe use their existing skills to build a wider web.”

The new WebXR application programming interface is still unstable and in need of further refinement. Eventually, though, it is likely to become another W3C standard. A wide range of devices can use the API including head-mounted displays “whether they are opaque, transparent, or utilize video passthrough.”

The draft is edited by Brandon Jones of Google and Nell Waliczek of Amazon for the Immersive Web Working Group of the W3C.

“W3C approval is not required prior to browsers shipping a feature,” Jones explained in a direct message. “It is encouraged that at least two browsers have an interoperable implementation of a feature prior to standardization. As a result some browsers may choose to ship WebXR after the API has stabilized but before the W3C has finished reviewing it.”

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Supermedium Raises $1.1M Seed Funding to Further Develop Web-based VR

Supermedium, the team behind the eponymous VR web browser released earlier this year, recently raised a seed investment round of $1.1 million.

As reported by Tech Crunch, funding comes from Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Boost VC, Anorak Ventures, Candela Partners, Social Starts, M Ventures, Seraph Group, Taimatsu, Outpost VC, Colopl Next, Shrug VC, Andrew Ogawa, and Cantos VC.

Supermedium is a VR web browser from the creators of VR web framework ‘A-Frame’ and part of the original Mozilla team behind the WebVR initiative.

Unlike traditional web browsers, Supermedium serves up actual VR content to headsets, which is hosted on the web. Things like mini-games, music experiences, 3D models and other ‘lighter’ VR content types are the perfect candidates for now, but the makers behind Supermedium see a VR-first web in the future that will effectively render app stores a thing of the past in many cases.

To help this along, the team recently released Supercraft, a VR content creation tool built with A-Frame that lets you make a VR web page and then share it with a simple URL.

Image courtesy Supermedium

For now, Supermedium only supports Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, with versions obtainable via Steam and the Oculus Store, which does limit its potential install base somewhat. According to the Tech Crunch report however, the team sees the near-term focus on PC VR headsets more of a question of obtaining the best quality experience for the user, which necessarily includes tracked controllers, something that’s poised to make its way to mobile devices hopefully in the near future with headsets such as Oculus’ Santa Cruz 6DOF headset prototype.

The post Supermedium Raises $1.1M Seed Funding to Further Develop Web-based VR appeared first on Road to VR.

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Microsoft And Samsung To Host 48 Hour WebXR Hackathon Challenge In San Francisco

Microsoft and Samsung have teamed up to put on a 48 hour WebXR Hackathon Challenge as part of the WebXR Week San Francisco. The event calls on those interested in developing immersive web based application for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR) by leveraging the web to build amazing experiences.

WebXR Weekend Challenge

The event will allow developers, designers and artists to the Microsoft Reactor Studio for a full weekend of intensive WebXR fun. Offering the chance for people to expand what is possible with web technologies, the hackathon is a creative space that allows for experimenting and creation of new ideas all leveraging WebXR and immersive technologies. The event will have a number of categories for attendees to pick from and tackle including education/training, medical, social good, gaming/entertainment, and plenty more.

During the 48 hour period there will be opportunities for attendees to network with each other before getting straight into the action with team formation and playing their idea for the hackathon. Lunch and dinner is scheduled into the weekend and their will also be a round of presentations and judging to find the winning teams for each category and their creation over the 48 hour period.

The WebXR Hackathon Challenge is being sponsored by some big names including Microsoft, Samsung, and Mozillia. Part of the WebXR Week San Francisco, there have been a number of different events put on to offer developers, designers, entrepreneurs, companies, and community organizers to come together and put on a series of events all in celebration of WebXR and immersive technologies.

Back in May it was announced by Google that developers would be able to use the WebXR API within Chrome as the company made it a standard part of their popular web browser, enabling millions of users able to be able to enjoy immersive content.

The event will be starting today June 29th at 6:00 PM local time (PDT) and run through to Sunday, July 1st at 6:00 PM at the Microsoft Reactor Studio. For those are are interesting in attending the event you can find more details including, including the full schedule and tickets, over on the eventbrite page here.

For more on WebXR and all things immersive technology, keep reading VRFocus.

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Google Introduce WebXR Standard To Chrome

Earlier this year Mozilla introduced a new standard called WebXR that could be used to deliver mixed reality (MR) content directly to web browsers. This API was an advancement of the existing WebVR technology. Google have embraced this idea and are bringing it to its Chrome browser.

At Google I/O during a session titled The Future of the Web Is Immersive’ speakers Brandon Jones and John Pallett demonstrated some of the new features of WebXR.

WebVR was well received for the most part, but did come with its own set of challenges and problems. As a result of extensive feedback, WebXR was developed to address those problems and also to bring augmented reality (AR) and MR content to the browser without need for a headset.

Speaker Brandon Jones indicated that WebXR offered many advantages over the older WebVR standard, including more optimisations for the browser and cleaner, more consistent and predictable operations, which makes development easier for coders. The new API is also compatible with a wider range of devices, opening up new audiences for the content on offer.

In the optimisation area, and example as offered regarding the rendering of VR content on a Google Pixel XL smartphone. Using WebVR, a resolution of 1145 x 1807 is possible, with 2 million pixels. Under the new WebXR standard, the same content can be rendered at 1603 x 2529, with 4 million pixels. This doubles the number of pixels, whilst maintaining the same high framerate.

This new technology means that developers can make immersive web-based content look better and run more smoothly simply by switching to the new API. Google have made WebXR Chrome support available as an Origin Trial starting in Chrome 67, which is currently in Beta. For developers who wish to explore the features without deploying it, WebXR can be abled by using the About Flags in Chrome.

For further news about WebXR and other updates from Google I/O will continue to be covered here on VRFocus.