First Public Working Drafts of Depth Sensing, Hit Test, and DOM Overlay Modules
Three WebXR modules hit a big milestone, moving from the community group where specifications are incubated into the working group where specifications are turned into standards. At the same time, the specification documents were published as a "First Public Draft" to invite feedback from the wider web community. The depth sensing module provides an API to receive surface information about objects like walls and furniture in the physical world. The API described in the hit test module provides distance information between XR devices and physical objects. The DOM Overlay module gives creators the ability to place web content like 2D text, images, and controls on top of 3D scenes.
Apple Proposes <model> to Compliment WebXR
Long-time Safari engineer and occasional WebXR group contributor Dean Jackson created quite a stir by proposing a new HTML element, model, which would parallel the existing audio and video elements but to provide 3D scene rendering instead of sound or flat video. It would appear, based on comments from Apple's head of WebKit engineering, Maciej Stachowiak, that Apple remain committed to implementing WebXR and the new element would be a declarative compliment to the more programmatic APIs like WebXR.
Mary Shelley's Gothic Mansion
Join others in this experience to learn about Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, a poet and the author of the early science fiction novel "Frankenstein".
Voices of VR Episode 1000
Kent Bye is arguably the most consistent and thorough journalist covering the current wave of XR culture in his podcast, Voices of VR. He recently published episode 1000 (!!) in the form of a retrospective on the ultimate potential of virtual reality that includes interview excerpts from many of our community members.
Hello World for VR Render Streaming
Vasanth (aka Fuseman) released a new video in his series about using Unity, render streaming, and WebXR to create experiences for web users as well as a video about creating an archery experience.
Video Textures in Mozilla Hubs
It became possible to broadcast live feeds from in-world cameras onto object materials in Hubs.
Croquet Ships
A global network of relay servers for rich media spaces went live and touts its ability to back dynamic experiences in XR.
Ada Rose's Roller Coaster
Ada continues to provide high quality tutorials for XR creators, this time delving into new module APIs like lighting estimation, hit test, anchors, and DOM overlay. Perhaps the most fun aspect of this release is her rollAR coaster demo.
WebGPU Begins Chrome Origin Trial
After a decade of WebGL bringing 3D graphics to the web and enabling all sorts of new experiences, it's now time to upgrade the stack and help web developers take full advantage of modern graphics cards. WebGPU arrives just in time! ~ Ricardo Cabella