Virtual Reality & The Future of the Web

The Wall Street Journal:
“Mozilla, the nonprofit behind the Firefox Web browser, missed the mobile boom. It wants to avoid a similar fate in virtual reality, which some see emerging as a platform for distributing digital goods, services and entertainment.

Monday, Mozilla unveiled virtual-reality experiences that can be accessed through the Web and viewed using headsets including the Oculus Rift. One streams a documentary, The Polar Sea, shot using 360-degree filming techniques. Another, Sechelt, lets users fly through a 3-D landscape…”
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After Missing the Mobile Boom, Mozilla Preps for Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality & The Future of the Web

Josh Carpenter:
“It took 30 years, but virtual reality is finally here. From Oculus to Sony, consumers will soon be able to purchase affordable head mounted displays capable of simulating “presence”—the feeling of genuinely being teleported somewhere. Walk to the edge of a cliff, and your body is tricked into believing you’re 1000 feet up, from sweaty palms to quickening heart beat. A thousand sci-fi novels of possibility are suddenly possible. VR has an excellent chance of being the next major HCI revolution—like the GUI and the touchscreen—triggering huge new creative and economic possibilities.

At the same time, the 3D web has come of age. From Unreal Engine and Unity content via ASM.js, to libraries like Three.js, the web now has the performance, the pipelines, and the inherent properties to be a major player in VR content creation and consumption…”
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Virtual Reality & The Web: Next Steps

Vlad Vukicevic:
“On June 26, Mozilla Research launched an experimental build of Firefox with VR-enablers bundled, empowering developers to turn any website into a virtual reality experience. No plugins, installs or expensive development tools required…”
Read More: Virtual Reality & The Web: Next Steps