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WebXR

WebXR emulator extension

Takahiro Aoyagi Takahiro Aoyagi   Fernando Serrano Fernando Serrano    - 

We are happy to announce the release of our WebXR emulator browser extension which helps WebXR content creation.

We understand that developing and debugging WebXR experiences is hard for many reasons:

  • You must own a physical XR device
  • Lack of support of XR devices on some platforms, as macOS
  • Putting on and taking off the headset all the time is an uncomfortable task
  • In order to make your app responsive across form factors, you must own tons of devices: mobile, tethered, 3dof, 6dof, and so on

With this extension, we aim to soften most of these issues.

WebXR emulator extension emulates XR devices so that you can directly enter immersive(VR) mode from your desktop browser and test your WebXR application without the need of any XR devices. It emulates multiple XR devices, so you can select which one you want to test.

The extension is built on top of the WebExtensions API, so it works on Firefox, Chrome, and other browsers supporting the API.

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How can I use it?

  1. Install the extension from the extension stores (Firefox, Chrome)
  2. Launch a WebXR application, for example the Three.js examples. You will notice that the application detects that you have a VR device (emulated) and it will let you enter the immersive (VR) mode.
  3. Open the “WebXR” tab in the browser’s developer tool (Firefox, Chrome) to control the emulated device. You can move the headset and controllers and trigger the controller buttons. You will see their transforms reflected in the WebXR application.
    tab

What’s next?

The development of this extension is still at an early stage. We have many awesome features planned, including:

  • Recording and replaying of actions and movements of your XR devices so you don’t have to replicate them every time you want to test your app and can share them with others.
  • Incorporate new XR devices
  • Control the headset and controllers using a standard gamepad like the Xbox or PS4 controllers or use your mobile as 3dof device
  • Something else?

We would love your feedback! What new features do you want next? Any problems with the extension on your WebXR application? Please join us on GitHub to discuss them.

Lastly, we would like to give a shout out to the WebVR API emulation Extension by Jaume Sanchez as it was a true inspiration for us when building this one.