A number of companies are now experimenting with providing virtual reality via the web. The results are exciting and demonstrate the potential in this new technology for a host of applications from cinematic experiences to gaming and urban planning.
MozVR by Mozilla is designed to be a “native VR” Web experience, made from the ground up for virtual reality. As one of the first websites of it’s kind, building it required the authors had to up with new solutions for the unique challenges of a fully immersive, three-dimensional medium. To make it easier for others to build their own VR websites, they have shared these solutions on MozVR and GitHub, from source code, to tools, to tutorials. Owners of the Oculus Rift can try the new website right now by using either the Mozilla VR enabled browser or testing builds of Chromium.
Vrban allows users to explore urban environments using the Oculus Rift. Apparently, users can upload models from 3ds Max (export as Obj files) and instantly view them online in virtual reality – you can use the Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard with your smartphone (iOS 8.0 or later for iPhone) to view them. Try the bedroom demo.
Google wants developers working on virtual reality applications for chrome and android. Following is a quick preview of Jaunt VR’s “The Mission” WWII film made in partnership with New Deal Studios. Click here for the android demo app that puts you on stage with Paul McCartney. Jaunt has received investments from Google.
Aeys is a WebVR, powered full-web virtual reality application over the web.
POV tech notes, “There is a tremendous amount of work to be done to get web browsers ready for virtual reality, both in fine-tuning performance and designing the API to support a full WebVR experience. But even now it’s an easy way to start building VR prototypes and the kind of experiments that are necessary to drive those design decisions.”
See the POV demo (source code is available.)
Leave a Reply