WebXR
WebXR is an emerging standard which lets us build 3D Headset VR experience in a web page. You use the browser in your VR headset to go to the page, then click on Enter VR and the 2D browser disappears and you are in a fully-fledged 3D VR environment. You may also be able to explore the same environments on a 2D screen if you don't have access to a VR headset.
We currently have 2 WebXR demos - detailed below - and are working on more:
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Solar System Playground
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Immersive Visual Analytics
Solar System Playground
To try out our Solar System Playground in WebXR just use the browser in your WebXR compatible VR headset to get to this page, and then click on the link below. Once the new page loads just click on the Enter VR button.
Note that whilst the page will open in an ordinary browser you won't be able to do much. But watch the video here to get an idea:
The main features are:
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Set sizes of planets to linear or log scale
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Set orbit sizes to linear or log scale
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Just grab hold of a planet to bring it up close to look at it, and turn it over in your "hands"
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Display labels on planets and/or audio naming as you click on them
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Randomise planet positions, sort them into order, and then have your solution scored
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Hide the floor (not for those with vertigo!)
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Move with joystick or by clicking on the footsteps
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Set sizes and orbit sizes to "real" values, scaled to the sun. This make things VERY small and VERY spread out. There's a guideline to help you find all the planets, and Pluto (and maybe Neptune) might actually be outside of the "star" bubble - feels very otherworldly that far out!
Note that this is still a work-in-progress and may have a few bugs, but with World Space Week happening and lots of us in some sort of lockdown we thought it a good time to get it out!
Immersive Visual Analytics
Whilst this application was originally built as a side project it shows some principles and ideas which are probably worth sharing here. The application uses WebXR to display data in VR. The data is fetched from a web service, and the user can choose what data parameters are used on two of the point features, in this case size and height. The key thing about WebXR is that it lets this visualisation run in a VR headset without any download or installs. Just point the in-built browser at the URL, click on Enter VR and the browser fades away and you are left in a 3D space with the data.
The data itself is the star map used in the classic GDW Traveller game (think D&D in space) - but as we say the data isn't important, just the novel interaction.
To try out our immersive data visualisation in WebXR just use the browser in your WebXR compatible VR headset to get to this page, and then click on the link below. Once the new page loads just click on the Enter VR button.
Note that whilst the page will open in an ordinary browser you won't be able to do much. But watch the video here to get an idea: