Mozilla mixed reality platform
Mozilla work on a combined framework that gives developers standardized, well-documented tools to access the user’s chosen mixed reality platform.
The Mozilla previously worked with Google and others on the WebVR API. Which over the last year has launch VR experiences without any fuss or weird plugins. WebXR is a successor to this standard, including lots of similar functions but adding in all the stuff user need for the augmented side of the equation.
To create a common language that connects concepts like object anchoring despite changes in implementation between ARCore, ARKit, Hololens, and other platforms. Mozilla’s work meant to complementary and compatible with the other company’s existing demos.
WebXR javascript library
“We talked with the folks at Google in the past about how to implement AR ideas on the web, given them feedback on what they’ve done with their WebAR sample implementations, and making sure that our WebXR javascript library works in their apps so that developers have the freedom to use whichever apps they want to experiment with these new technologies on the web,” explained Mozilla principal research scientist Blair MacIntyre.
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It’s not meant to outright replace WebVR. But it’s unclear how things will develop. So, if considerable changes made implementing AR within that standard, it may at some point no longer be practical to call it that.
“Right now we think that evolving WebVR to include support for AR capabilities, the best long-term outcome,” MacIntyre said. These changes might relatively small, and the API still called WebVR. The community might decide to adopt more comprehensive changes and change the name to WebXR or even WebMR.
In the meantime this is more of a developer playground than a serious proposal. It supports desktop Firefox and there’s a WebXR Viewer on the iOS App Store if you want to test it out, but for most people it’ll be fine to just wait.
More information: [Mozilla]
