WebXR Device API is a Web

application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how t ...

(API) that describes support for accessing

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

and virtual reality devices, such as the

HTC Vive VIVE, sometimes referred to as HTC Vive, is a virtual reality brand of HTC Corporation. It consists of hardware like its titular virtual reality headsets and accessories, virtual reality software and services, and initiatives that promote appl ...

Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division of Meta Platforms, released on March 28, 2016. In 2012 Oculus initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Rift's development, af ...

Oculus Quest The Oculus Quest is a virtual reality (VR) headset developed by Oculus, a division of Meta, Inc., released on May 21, 2019. Similar to its predecessor, Oculus Go, it is a standalone device that can run games and software wirelessly under an ...

Google Cardboard Google Cardboard is a discontinued virtual reality (VR) platform developed by Google. Named for its fold-out cardboard viewer into which a smartphone is inserted, the platform was intended as a low-cost system to encourage interest and developme ...

HoloLens Microsoft HoloLens is an augmented reality (AR)/ mixed reality (MR) headset developed and manufactured by Microsoft. HoloLens runs the Windows Mixed Reality platform under the Windows 10 operating system. Some of the positional tracking techn ...

Magic Leap Magic Leap, Inc. is an American technology company that released a head-mounted virtual retinal display, called ''Magic Leap One'', which superimposes 3D computer-generated imagery over real world objects, by "projecting a digital light field ...

Open Source Virtual Reality Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) is an open-source software project that aims to enable headsets and game controllers from all vendors to be used with any games developed by Razer and Sensics. It is also a virtual reality headset that claims t ...

(OSVR), in a

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

. The WebXR Device API and related APIs are standards defined by

W3C The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web. Founded in 1994 and led by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations that maintain full-time staff working to ...

groups, the Immersive Web Community Group and Immersive Web Working Group. While the Community Group works on the proposals in the incubation period, the Working Group defines the final web specifications to be implemented by the browsers. WebVR was an experimental Web API that was only capable of representing virtual reality and was superseded by WebXR.

History

WebVR API was first conceived in spring 2014 by

Vladimir Vukićević Vladimir Vukićević (born 29 April 1979), is a Serbian-born United States, American software engineer who has worked on many open source projects. He is known mostly for his work on open-source Graphics library, graphics libraries, including tho ...

from

Mozilla Mozilla (stylized as moz://a) is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, wi ...

. The API's contributors include Brandon Jones(Google), Boris Smus and others from the Mozilla team. On March 1, 2016, the Mozilla VR team and the

Google Chrome Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS ...

team announced the version 1.0 release of the WebVR API proposal. The resulting API refactoring brought many improvements to WebVR. The latest WebXR Device API Working Draft was last published in February 2022. The editors of the specification currently are from

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

and

Meta Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending". In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or ende ...

. Other members from

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational corporation, multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of ...

and

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, as well as varies startups and invited experts have input in the future of the specification. All of the discussions of the specifications are public on GitHub. In 2018, the WebXR Device API superseded WebVR, being designed for both

, virtual reality devices and the possible future realities and devices. WebVR was implemented in Firefox and Chromium-based browsers before being deprecated and removed. On September 24, 2018, the Immersive Web Working Group became official.

Design

The WebXR Device API exposes a few new interfaces (such as XRView, XRPose) that allow

web application A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection. History In earlier computing models like client-serve ...

s to present content in

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

and

, by using

WebGL WebGL (Short for Web Graphics Library) is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-ins. WebGL is fully integrated with other web standards, allowing GPU-accelerated ...

with the necessary camera settings and device interactions (such as controllers or point of view).

Support

WebXR Device API
Working Draft) is currently partially supported in the release version of Edge and Chrome 79+ and was supported by Chrome for Android until version 98+, Opera 66+, Opera Mobile 64+ and in Samsung Internet 12+ Oculus Browser.

Similar technologies

Although WebXR is unique as an API, there are native applications on most hardware allowing for networked experiences and access to web content. Several key tools, such as

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...

and

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen appliance, kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsion, emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender ...

, are also able to export for the web and provide users a way to use their content without installing a dedicated application.

References

External links

Fundamentals of WebXR
on

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