InfoQ Homepage Virtual Reality Content on InfoQ
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Using VR and AR for Pain Management
Immersive technologies have been used for the past 30 years to treat pain, PTSD, phobia, anxiety, and phantom limb syndrome. The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, and 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. Since we are visual by nature, we can use VR and AR in pain management.
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Building AR/VR Applications in the Browser
Both Augmented and Virtual reality present exciting new opportunities for web developers. We follow Doug Sillars' talk on "Building an ARt Gallery in the Browser" to find out what the state of Virtual and Augmented Reality in JavaScript is, and how developers can get involved by using A-Frame, an AR/VR JavaScript library.
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OpenXR Spec Hits 1.0, Guarantees Backward-Compatibility
Backed by Epic, Microsoft, Oculus, and others, OpenXR aims to reduce fragmentation in the AR/VR space by setting an open, royalty-free standard for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) platforms and devices. Additions to version 1.0 include better support for input subsystem, game engine editor, and loader.
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Mozilla's Firefox Reality VR Browser Now Available on Oculus Quest, with Tracking Data Protection
Mozilla recently brought Firefox Reality, its popular open-source Virtual Reality (VR) browser, to the Oculus Quest handset. Oculus Quest users will now enjoy the privacy features included in the browser, such as Enhanced Tracking Protection.
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W3C Publishes WebXR Draft Specification for Direct Web Interaction with Immersive Hardware
The World Wide Web Consortium recently published draft specifications for WebXR. The WebXR Device API seeks to provide "the interfaces necessary to enable developers to build compelling, comfortable, and safe immersive applications on the web across a wide variety of hardware form factors".
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OpenXR 0.90 Aims to Solve AR/VR Fragmentation
The Khronos Group has published the first OpenXR specification and API with version number 0.90. OpenXR is an open, royalty-free standard for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) platforms and devices that aims to simplify AR/VR software development on multiple platforms and devices.
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Microsoft Announces Two New Azure Cloud Services Allowing Developers to Build Cross-Platform AR Apps
At the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Microsoft announced two new services: Azure Spatial Anchors and Azure Remote Rendering. Both services will allow developers to build cross-platform and contextual mixed reality applications.
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Facebook Open-Sources DeepFocus, Bringing More Realistic Images to Virtual Reality
In a recent blog post, Facebook announced they have open-sourced DeepFocus, an AI powered framework for improving focus on close objects. This technology ensures nearby objects are in-focus, while distant objects appear out of focus, much like cinematic experiences. DeepFocus takes advantage of an end-to-end convolutional neural network that produces an accurate retinal blur in near real-time.
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Three.js Releases 98 and 99 Improve WebGL Support
The two most recent releases of Three.js, the JavaScript 3D library providing renderers in Canvas 2D, SVG, CSS3D, and WebGL, introduce hundreds of refinements and improvements.
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Mozilla Pushes WebXR as New Open Web API for Augmented Reality
After adding support for WebVR to Firefox, Mozilla is now working on a new API, called WebXR, to bring mixed reality to the Web. Initially announced last year, WebXR aims to replace WebVR in time and to offer a smooth transition for developers using WebVR.
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QCon SF Keynote: The History and Future of Wearable Computing and Virtual Experience
Amber Case gave the opening keynote talk at QCon San Francisco. She spoke about the history and current state of virtual reality interfaces, the challenges faced by augmented reality and how these can be overcome as people become more comfortable with the advances in technology.
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Collision: VR Content Democratization Key to Proliferation
Most Virtual Reality content is expensively and professionally produced by technology companies. For the technology to proliferate and satiate consumers wants, we need more ways to produce and share content.
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The Current Status of Browser-based Virtual Reality in HTML5
The SFHTML5 group recently had a meeting discussing HTML5 technologies for creating virtual reality experiences – WebGL, WebVR, Three.js, GLAM –, and the current development status for implementing support for them in Firefox and Chrome. The idea is to bring the entire web into the VR experience.