XR Web Browsers

Perhaps the killer app is already here, just not in the right shape. The most popular app of any device, including VR, is the web browser. The biggest platform in the world in user count is the web.

Indie developers have been producing much more imaginative versions of next generation web browsing than anything big tech corps have made.

There's many vendors offering a sliding scale of support with the latest VR/AR devices.

Originally published April 2019

tags: devlog browsers webxr

Cover art of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash

"The Metaverse is a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the internet. The word metaverse is a portmanteau of the prefix "meta" (meaning "beyond") and "universe" and is typically used to describe the concept of a future iteration of the internet, made up of persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe."

> typically used to describe the concept of a future iteration of the internet

Lets talk Internet browsers!

Links:


The Goals of WebXR

WebXR is a device API specification that allows Web Developers to create web-accessible immersive experiences for virtual reality and augmented reality devices.

Progressive enhancement

Why is the web THE place for the future of XR?

  • Platform agnostic
  • Cloud based computation
  • Ease XR development

Comparisons

We will be comparing the most notable browsers (project stage or product) that are working to push/support WebXR. Within these analyses we have several factors, them being:

  • The engines they run on, the quality of product and development on said engine.
  • WebXR/WebVR speeds in examples or products built within these browsers.
  • Ease of development using frameworks or standards that the browser supports
  • How well does it work with mobile? (mention mobile as a growing AR platform)
  • How dedicated are these browsers (companies) to XR and keeping it integrated.
  • Is 3D an afterthought just to have supported or is it a focus?
  • What developments do we see coming in the near future for these browsers or features that are being worked on that we know about?

Other questions worth asking the people working on these projects:

  • What's it made with?
  • What devices does it currently support?
  • What have been some of the challenges you are facing?
  • What developments can we expect to see in the near future?

The browsers on this list made it because they met all our criteria of supporting WebXR, being linked to some form of XR hardware, or the priority of 3D experiences.


The Browsers

Microsoft

Supports WebVR to make it possible to experience immersive 3D applications using Microsoft Edge and a supported VR headset(WindowsXR products).

Microsoft Edge is available in the Mixed Reality home

Image Not Showing Possible Reasons
  • The image file may be corrupted
  • The server hosting the image is unavailable
  • The image path is incorrect
  • The image format is not supported
Learn More β†’

How well does it work with mobile?

How dedicated is this company to XR?

What developments do we see coming in the near future?


Mozilla Mixed Reality

In-game screenshot from Firefox Reality


Note: Mozilla has abandoned this project and Igalia has recently forked it into wolvic: https://github.com/Igalia/wolvic

Image Not Showing Possible Reasons
  • The image file may be corrupted
  • The server hosting the image is unavailable
  • The image path is incorrect
  • The image format is not supported
Learn More β†’

See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A56dmlQx2Zs

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wolvicxr


Supports A-Frame to push webVR, "Our mission is to keep the Internet open to innovators, creators, and builders on the web. Virtual Reality is set to change the future of web interaction. The ability for anyone to access and enjoy VR experiences is critical. This is why Mozilla set out to bring virtual reality to web browsers, and why we are enabling WebVR in Firefox."

Screenshot of Spoke, create 3D social scenes for Hubs

Screenshot of Hubs in 2D mode

How well does it work with mobile?

Really well actually, 60fps on a Zenphone AR and the UI works as expected.

How dedicated is this company to XR?

Very dedicated, estimated 10-15 people working on emerging technology such as VR/AR.

What developments do we see coming in the near future?

Cross-platform interaction with AR, VR, and traditional desktop displays.


Supermedium

Anti-appstore directory of WebVR experiences. "Browse fully 3D, interactive, VR applications, published on the open Web. VR sites feel just like native VR applications and can be anything: mini-games, art installations, journalistic pieces, environments, dance parties, whatever!"

What Supermedium looks like when launched

How well does it work with mobile?

There is currently no mobile client.

How dedicated is this company to XR?

Team of 3 who come from Mozilla and have been working on XR for atleast past 4 years.

What developments do we see coming in the near future?

Working on Oculus Quest and will release a new game soon.


JanusXR

Twitter: https://twitter.com/janusxr

Build 3-D spaces out of sites, decentralized content storage, multi-user focus with ability to embed 3D WebVR to content in any 2D webpage and vice versa.

Janusweb is a three.js/webGL based client with feature parity to the native C++ client out of the box. It runs ontop of the Elation engine with support for WASM/WebVR.

In-game screenshot of a Janusweb made experience

Front page of Vesta shows user generated content

Vesta offers free hosting and a builder for making webvr sites

How well does it work with mobile?

There is an android port of the native C++ client available on the playstore and Janusweb runs on mobile web browsers as well with support for WebVR. There is also an Oculus Go build available on the Oculus store for free.

How dedicated is this company to XR?

Since 2014 JanusVR has focused on building an engine and tools for evolving the current flat web into a collaborative spatial walkthrough of the internet.

What developments do we see coming in the near future?


Exokit

Exokit is a native WebXR engine, with features browsers will never have.

what are a couple of the features exokit has that browsers will never have?
Never say never, but…

  • Dom to texture
  • Reality tabs (multiple sites at once)
  • Run actual native code
  • Run OpenVR apps inside your web app (experimenting with this)

Preview of exokit

Enables developers to build XR experiences using the same code that runs on the web. Exokit engine is written on top of Node and emulates a web browser, providing native hooks for WebGL, WebXR, WebAudio, and other APIs used in immersive experiences.

Read more here: https://exokit.org/blog/introducing-exokit/


Carmel

"Discover, enjoy, and share WebVR content without ever taking off your headset… Support latest WebVR APIs, Optimized for performance using WebGL 2.0 and multi-view extensions, Supports all popular 2D websites, Web-optimized keyboard with over 1000 emojis"

view of Oculus Browser after launching

2-D supporting, webvr api, webgl 2.0, made for the Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR.


Chrome

WebVR/WebXR supported in chromium to allow "any VR headset and a VR-capable device your users have β€” such as a Daydream headset and Pixel phone β€” to create fully immersive 3D experiences in your browser."


Samsung Internet

Samsung internet is a Chromium based Evergreen browser that is installed by default on Samsung devices.

"One Browser for all Samsung Galaxy devices. Samsung Internet for Android is a simple, fast, and reliable web browser for your phone and tablet. It has replaced the stock Android browser on Samsung Galaxy devices since 2012, to provide a browser highly optimized for our devices."

Samsung internet browser from GearVR

Hardware: https://developer.samsung.com/internet#gearvr-overview


Helio

Enables 3D objects (fbx, glTF, and quads) to be pulled out of websites and into the physical world, transforming passive web browsing into an interactive spatial experience.

Clip from the Magic Leap website on Helio

Magic Leap bills Helio as β€œthe web as it should be: liberated from the confines of flat browsers.”

What Helio looks like when you start it

This is a sample of prismatic, a declarative JS library for creating 3D content for the Helio browser.

<ml-model
  id="whaleModel"
  src="whale.glb"
  extractable="true"
  extracted-scale="5"
  z-offset="500px"
  prism-rotation="0 -2.35619 0"
  environment-lighting="color-intensity: 1;">
</ml-model>

For more dev samples visit: https://magicleaphelio.com/devsamples/index

Here's another recent video clip taken of the Helio browser:


Anarchy Arcade

Website: https://www.anarchyarcade.com/blog/welcome/
Concept: https://www.anarchyarcade.com/concept.html

Anarchy Arcade is a source engine based front-end that turns your useless desktop wallpaper into a game world. You use your PC like normal, but AArcade is now your wallpaper.

You can launch AA when you start your computer and pause it at any time and it will take between 0.1 - 0.4 percent of CPU resources.

Turning shortcuts into 3D objects

Example room with MSF shortcuts

http://anarchyarcade.com/concept.html


Metachromium

Website: http://metachromium.com/

Multi-app XR browser for Windows based on Chromium that layers WebXR on top of SteamVR.

  • Web-based UI follows you to every app
  • Run multiple OpenVR/WebXR apps at a time
  • Extension system for virtual world scripting
  • QR code detection
  • FPS controls XR device emulation


Argon4

Website: https://argonjs.io/
Github: https://github.com/argonjs


Final Thoughts

We can bring back the spicy creative energy the early web had within a whole new medium.


To do:

  • More details for each project
  • Get images and video links to supplement each analysis
  • Reach out to the teams working on these projects for questions and up to date information
  • Peer review and editing