Making virtual reality more accessible to the public is an ongoing struggle. For a lot of consumers, accessing VR content through their browser makes a lot of sense. Mozilla has taken this feedback to heart and issued an updated version of the Firefox browser. This tool fully supports standalone VR and AR headsets.
Mozilla’s Firefox Reality Browser
After Google made VR content more accessible through the Chrome browser, it was a matter of time until other companies did the same. Mozilla’s new Firefox Reality browser is certainly quite appealing. The entire interface is optimized for standalone VR headsets. It is cross-platform compatible and open source, which should hopefully lead to some exciting developments down the line.
Although the browser isn’t publicly available yet, a demo has been shown to display its capabilities. For now, we have to wait and see which headsets are supported exactly. On the surface, it looks like a regular browser, albeit one that effectively floats in the virtual world. Users can check out web content, scroll through pages, and so on. It will still require some fine-tuning before a public release is in order.
Mozilla comments on the Firefox Reality browser as follows:
“Mixed reality is the wild west. How do you type? How do you express emotion? How do you view the billions of existing 2D web pages as well as new 3D content? How do you communicate? Who maps the world and who controls what you see? Can we build on our work with voice recognition and connected devices to create a better browsing experience? We love tackling these questions. Everything is new again, and we are constantly building and experimenting to find the right answers.”
It is evident a unified browser solution for VR headsets sounds quite appealing. Right now most headsets have their proprietary solution, which doesn’t exactly suit the needs of most VR users. As Mozilla is also focused on privacy for its users, their project may certainly attract a lot of positive attention. It also shows the company has high hopes for virtual reality going forward.
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