Based on materials from roadtovr.com
Google has been playing an active role in shaping and developing WebVR, a set of standard capabilities for creating content for VR sites that can be used directly in VR headsets. But what about the billions of sites already on the web? Currently, you need to take off and put on your helmet, moving from a WebVR site to a regular site and vice versa. Google is offering a radical solution – to allow people to stay in VR as long as they are on the Internet.
The latest versions of Google Chrome Beta and Google Chrome Dev on Android add two important features that make this a reality. The Chrome Beta now includes a WebVR setting that offers enhanced VR device compatibility with VR websites based on WebVR standards. Chrome Dev (pre-Beta) now contains a VR Shell setting, which Google Chromium evangelist François Beaufort says, “The VR browser shell will make web browsing available using Cardboard or Daydream support. Both options are available in the service pages of the Chrome browser, which can be accessed by entering the chrome: // flags command in the address bar.
The VR Shell does not appear to be fully functional yet, but both options are evolving in different ways in Chrome, eventually culminating in a final version for widespread distribution to users.
WebVR developer Josh Carpenter said that a new WebVR option in the Chrome Beta suggests a new WebVR option, compared to the limited WebVR functionality that most modern browsers already support using existing standards.
'Today I can watch a scene in WebVR on iOS [device], even though Mobile Safari does not support the WebVR API, thanks to the polyfill and accelerometers in the device. And that's great. The networking experience is getting richer, ”he explains. “As a result, the WebVR API gives us broader support at the ecosystem level, for example, following links between different components of WebVR without leaving VR mode, and more.”
Last year Samsung introduced a VR browser for its Gear VR headset with similar functionality but not available to the wider ecosystem Android. Since the stable version of Chrome Android has been downloaded from 1 to 5 billion times, we are talking about a significant expansion of the potential audience of VR browsing. Google is also developing support for VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in the desktop version of Chrome.