Mozilla launches virtual reality website
Firefox developer explores VR on the Web with support for Oculus Rift
After decades of false-starts, 3D technology is on the verge of a de facto Web standard with WebGL. Powerful new client-side libraries like BabylonJS and ThreeJS are making it easier for devleopers to use, and Mozilla is promoting this drive with a new website MozVR.
The website provides open-source examples of immersive 3D environments. So you can, for example, look around an arctic fly-through or explore three-dimensional data visualisations. You will need an Oculus Rift headset though and the consumer versions remain "many months" from release.
This is cutting-edge stuff, but who stands to benefit? Well, apart from gaming applications Mozilla envisages valid uses within all industry that could benefit from immersive visualisation, including business data mining, medical analysis and industrial training.
From Borges' Labyrinths to Gibson's Neuromancer, the dream has always been to develop brave new, fully-immersive environments. The staff of Silverink Towers remain avid supporters and developers of these emerging 3D technologies.