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January 18, 2022
Issue #78
Though this is my last issue as editor of the Immersive Web Weekly (see issue 77 for details) there are still many "firsts" ahead for the immersive web. There's no end to the end of hard work and loft... -
January 11, 2022
Issue #77
Hello, friends of the immersive web! Thank you to the over 100 (!) people who responded to my request for comment about how to move forward with this newsletter and coverage of the immersive web in ge... -
January 04, 2022
Issue #76
Happy 2022, friends of the immersive web! I hope that you all had a chance to take a break, think long-term thoughts, and then make plans for the next year. This is not your usual issue of the IWW bu... -
November 23, 2021
Issue #75
As the holiday season rolls in, newly excited analysts around the world watch for signals that XR is taking off while long-time creators of the immersive web continue to lay down crucial foundations. ... -
November 16, 2021
Issue #74
While I detour into making miniature intellectual infrastructure the pace of the immersive web continues to increase with more developers picking up on the narrative that the browser is solid ground o... -
November 09, 2021
Issue #73
The discourse about the metaverse and Meta continues to froth up my timelines, with web3 (sic) and the immersive web being floated as alternatives to scary walled gardens. As a result, it was good fun... -
November 02, 2021
Issue #72
I just got back from living under a rock and playing House of the Dead. Did anything interesting happen last week? Just kidding. Thanks to Connect my timelines are on fire with hot takes about Meta, ... -
October 26, 2021
Issue #71
It's always a good week when FIVARS is live but I took a break from those excellent experiences to search out news from the rest of our community. The Frame team is hard at work, our Facebook friends ... -
October 19, 2021
Issue #70
I took a break from playing whack-a-mole to check in on the immersive web community and wow are you all staying busy! I've heard from a fair number of people that recent announcements of new XR hardwa... -
October 12, 2021
Issue #69
It was a bit hard to concentrate when editing this issue because the WebXR Design Summit is currently hosting a series of panels with excellent people saying interesting things. At the same time, the ... -
October 05, 2021
Issue #68
It is interesting times here in the metaverse immersive web, with AR features becoming more stable at the same time that new hardware offerings tease a variety of openness and capability and the world... -
September 21, 2021
Issue #67
I took a moment away from making 20 tiny Memex to check in with activity on the immersive web and there's a lot going on! The WebKit team seems to be playing a solid game of catch-up, Khronos is looki... -
September 14, 2021
Issue #66
As this email goes out our community is gathering for the WebXR Business Summit to discuss the applications and finances that will underpin commercial activity on the immersive web. Tickets are free a... -
September 07, 2021
Issue #65
I took a bit of time away from skiing and sending love letters to be amazed and awed by the progress in the wider web community. Three new modules hit the standards track, Apple triggered a discussion... -
August 24, 2021
Issue #64
While I stayed thoroughly busy building a small factory, the searches that I use to find news items were a bit quiet this week which gives us an opportunity to relish that this community has helped to... -
August 17, 2021
Issue #63
For the past few months my work at Transmutable has been focused on low-level hardware design, development, and manufacturing so it has been a nice break each Tuesday morning to cover the cohesive and... -
August 10, 2021
Issue #62
This week PlayCanvas enters the game, Ada Rose tells the story of WebXR, and a new platform is unveiled. Save all files, double-check your markup, and fire up FTP because it's time for another issue... -
August 03, 2021
Issue #61
Despite having a ton of fun, I took a break from playing Worlds Demolisher to survey the hard work coming out of our community and friends it's amazing! More events are in production. More industries ... -
July 27, 2021
Issue #60
This issue marks the first anniversary of the day that I took up the editor position for the Immersive Web Weekly. After 50 issues and one roller-coaster of a year for everyone on Earth, I'm happy to ... -
July 20, 2021
Issue #59
This week saw a major broadcasting group ship a VR experience, a raft of progress on glTF tools and standards, and some actual coverage of web XR by the usually native-centric VR press. Slow and stead... -
July 13, 2021
Issue #58
I'm in the middle of turning my lovely garage shop into a desifactory but luckily the rest of the wider web community has stayed busy turning out new browser features and new experiences to run in tho... -
June 29, 2021
Issue #57
With temperatures upwards of 100f (38c) in Seattle (a land with few air conditioners) it has been a bit tricky for me to work with hot computers but that didn't stop the global community from stitchin... -
June 22, 2021
Issue #56
Heck yes, it has been another exciting week on the immersive web. The GIS community is digging into the capabilities of WebXR for shared construction visualization at the same time that the art commun... -
June 15, 2021
Issue #55
Northern Summer continues to take a toll on our community's productivity but have no fear because some of us stayed inside to model, design, record, code, and write about the wider web. I'm thrilled t... -
June 08, 2021
Issue #54
It seems like the immersive web had a quiet week as Summer fully arrives in the Northern hemisphere. Sadly, in Seattle we have "June-uary" so I took those quiet moments to wrap up by a warm fire, drin... -
June 01, 2021
Issue #53
Whew! If you missed last week's WebXR Developer Summit then don't worry because Kent Bye's live coverage and the recordings (morning and afternoon) can get you up to speed. I've spent the days since ... -
May 25, 2021
Issue #52
This issue of the IWW will land in your inbox a bit earlier than usual because today I'm hosting the 2021 WebXR Developer Summit, an all-day free event featuring as many browser teams, library writers... -
May 18, 2021
Issue #51
We hit a bit milestone this week: WebXR is on by default on the Hololens 2. Details are below but I want to give kudos to the many people in the W3C immersive web groups who worked across orgs and wit... -
May 11, 2021
Issue #50
While Epic and Apple argue the semantics of "game" and "metaverse" with billions of dollars on the line, this week the immersive web community focused on shipping tools and experiences that moot those... -
May 04, 2021
Issue #49
This week was quite busy for this community and for me. On the heels of releasing a small mechatronics product and starting one with more ambition, we held a town hall meeting to collaboratively choos... -
April 27, 2021
Issue #48
The combination of this week's progress towards fully open hardware for AR and Imanol's announcement of a FOSS stack for WebXR (the first story 👇) has me walking on clouds. I'm so deeply proud of and... -
April 20, 2021
Issue #47
An Apple Event starts in 30 minutes from when I write this but it's still time for me to push "publish". If the fruit team finally pull back the curtain on a pair of Mountain View Viewers and a versio... -
April 13, 2021
Issue #46
Another amazing week just happened in the immersive web community including a big announcement from the WebXR Awards team, some Flooming from Google, a spatial rhythm creator, and a number of awe ins... -
April 06, 2021
Issue #45
While I patiently wait for dance man to ship in order to live out my dream of first-person Pac-Man, the rest of our community refused to sit still. From the largest deployment of headsets to using sou... -
March 30, 2021
Issue #44
This week I spent most of my time elbow-deep in resin printers making prototypes of new wearable mechatronics and feeling excited about the future of the immersive web. The up-tick in creator activity... -
March 23, 2021
Issue #43
The XR cup overflowed this week with hours of new experiences ranging from a visit to an inspirational artificial life simulation, through a rocking session of synthwave AR, and then ending with a gam... -
March 16, 2021
Issue #42
This week brought an amazing amount of live performances to the web, including the Fifth Wall Forum's REVEAL event (covered here by Kent Bye), a well funded and attended performance from The Royal Sha... -
March 09, 2021
Issue #41
My standing searches for immersive web related topics are heating up in 2021! The need to make more editorial choices for the IWW is a problem I like to have because it means that our community has su... -
March 02, 2021
Issue #40
It has been an amazing week of news and new experiences! A new social space platform has landed, one of the biggest web-native engines has pivoted to a new business model, and there has been a boatloa... -
February 23, 2021
Issue #39
The WebXR Awards ceremony was this past Saturday and I had a blast hanging out "backstage" with the nominees and other presenters. It's no small task to produce a fully distributed awards show that is... -
February 16, 2021
Issue #38
The news that Sundance's web-based New Frontier hosted nearly 40k visitors (38k more than previous events) gave me a lift this week despite Seattle being snowed in and locked down. Based on my streams... -
February 09, 2021
Issue #37
This will be another quote-heavy issue for reasons of poor sleep and the metric tonne of XR-related information that flowed into my article and event queues. The former is a bummer and the latter is a... -
February 02, 2021
Issue #36
We're only 1/12th of the way through 2021 and the immersive web community is already building on the momentum from 2020! Unity toolmakers are hard at work making bridges for native app developers to c... -
January 26, 2021
Issue #35
This is a busy week for the community with several events and a wave of new and improved libraries that allow us to approach a truly immersive web. The proposals repo is active (including an interesti... -
January 19, 2021
Issue #34
With 2021 in full swing, the immersive web community has maintained the momentum from last year to bring more features to engines, more experiences for end users, and more integrations with third part... -
January 12, 2021
Issue #33
It is a wild and tough time here in the U.S. so this issue is light on quips and heavy on block quotes. Pay attention and stay safe, friends. -
January 05, 2021
Issue #32
The past few weeks in my home have been mostly filled with baked goods, naps, and films but the web never sleeps so there are a number of interesting announcements and news items to share. I did make ... -
December 15, 2020
Issue #31
The news this week is filled with governments and corporations disagreeing about the essential nature of progress and the future of humanity. It's a lot. One bright spot that warms my heart is the pro... -
December 08, 2020
Issue #30
As we head into the last few weeks of 2020 I was tempted to recount the many milestones, victories, and heartaches that took place on the immersive web and in our community. Luckily, we are spared tha... -
December 01, 2020
Issue #29
Despite eating a bit too much cake last week I'm rolling into December with smile because developers are picking up what the WebXR Device API is putting down. I'm not sure whether we've reached a crit... -
November 24, 2020
Issue #28
This week I couldn't turn around without running across a new API experiment from the Chrome team or finding someone using a Chrome origin trial in interesting work. Lighting, depth, and image trackin... -
November 17, 2020
Issue #27
As usual, 2020 has delivered an exciting week of technology and transformation. After I put this issue to bed I plan to retire into a tranquil writing space and work on my folio of immersive poetry. S... -
November 10, 2020
Issue #26
It has been another interesting week around the web with more engine support appearing for WebXR, funds landing for a new initiative for federated identity, and the launch of immersive tech for online... -
October 27, 2020
Issue #25
Note: There will be no Immersive Web Weekly next week because your editor will be in an underground bunker at an undisclosed location with no Internet access. That this is happening during the U.S. pr... -
October 20, 2020
Issue #24
This week Valve made good on the promise of an Index so I spent a bit of time back in tethered VR after almost a year exclusively using stand-alones like Facebook's Quest and Pico's neo2 eye. I starte... -
October 13, 2020
Issue #23
With the growing number of announcements that app framework and engine teams are introducing XR support (either porting from WebVR or adding XR for the first time) it feels like the WebXR Device API h... -
October 06, 2020
Issue #22
This was a busy week for the immersive web and for your editor. New APIs are in play, WebXR games (some quite sticky) are now live, and it feels like each week a new galaxy of tutorials and guides sho... -
September 29, 2020
Issue #21
As Autumn arrives in Seattle, I look forward to leaving behind all of this lovely, sunny weather and spending time in new headsets. After more than three months on backorder, Valve has let me pay for ... -
September 22, 2020
Issue #20
The big news this week came from Facebook in the form of new hardware and a massive overhaul of the Oculus Browser. Less noticed but just as intriguing is the announcement of another experimental brow... -
September 15, 2020
Issue #19
It's very 2020 here in smoky and germy Seattle so it has been a bit hard for your editor to focus on news about technology. Happily, neither wildfires nor Covid-19 have stopped others in the community... -
September 08, 2020
Issue #18
This is the week of labor day here in North America so instead of the usual news links I'm trying something different. This week we'll take a deeper dive into WebAssembly, a technology that has arrive... -
September 01, 2020
Issue #17
After a run of exciting (perhaps too exciting) weeks it has been a relief to have a bit of a break from world-shaking announcements. Despite the trials of 2020 we're all still here, many of us are sti... -
December 31, 2040
Issue #16
This week has taken our community for another wild ride on a bucking bronco as Facebook announced changes to Oculus accounts, prominent VR app creators spoke about their turbulent experiences with app... -
August 18, 2020
Issue #15
The open immersive web took a painful loss this week with Mozilla's announcement of another round of layoffs, a pivot towards non-browser product work, and a halt of new feature development for Firefo... -
August 11, 2020
Issue #14
As 2020 continues to plow a hole through history and raze the institutions on which we depend it has been a relief to see that people continue to build towards a stronger and more open future. It's no... -
August 04, 2020
Issue #13
Standards and browsers are the foundations of the immersive web so it's particularly exciting to see a raft of their improvements float in this week. Fast shared memory, better graphics languages, and... -
July 28, 2020
Issue #12
Hands (yes, hands!) were this week's big news for the immersive web. When news broke that Facebook's immersive browser shipped an experimental version of the WebXR hands feature the energetic Three.js... -
July 21, 2020
Issue #11
Hello immersive reader! It's been awhile, and a lot of things have changed in the world and for the immersive web -- and this newsletter has not been keeping up! The W3C Immersive Web Community Group... -
February 28, 2018
Issue #10
Microsoft announced the HoloLens 2 this week at $3,500 a pop, rivaling Magic Leap's FOV, shipping later this year. Microsoft has committed to open app stores, open browsing, and open standards: all ra... -
February 07, 2018
Issue #9
*wakes up from a deep, winterly slumber* Oh, hi, I didn't see you come in. It's been a while. But it is 2019! And there have been a lot of updates and progress on the WebXR Device API! Enjoy, my wint... -
August 30, 2018
Issue #8
Summer went by just like that. I've been super slow sending this out, so thanks for your patience! In just a few weeks, everyone's talking about the released Magic Leap One, the Global WebXR Hackathon... -
July 31, 2018
Issue #7
It's been a slow, heads-down summer, and then a lot of updates for the end of the month from the Immersive Web Community Group's face-to-face meeting in Seattle! I'm also always looking for news and u... -
July 05, 2018
Issue #6
This issue was a bit later than expected, thanks for your patience! There's some pretty cool web hacking and VR UX prototyping research this week; enjoy! -
June 18, 2018
Issue #5
Augmented reality has landed in Chrome Canary! The hit-test feature is the first AR proposal for the WebXR Device API to land in a mainstream browser, enabling a baseline feature set for building AR e... -
June 11, 2018
Issue #4
Apple announced a handful of AR-related features and updates this week at WWDC, showing strong support for the future of augmented reality. -
June 04, 2018
Issue #3
Some exciting updates on WebGPU, and research into AR Cardboard, AR UX, and VR in a worker thread. Enjoy! -
May 28, 2018
Issue #2
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May 21, 2018
Issue #1
Welcome to the first Immersive Web Weekly! Every week (at most), an issue will contain a collection of links of what's happening and what's new in the world of immersive web with new articles, tools, ...