Ask HN: Who’s Working on the “HTML” for VR?

2 points by janetacarr 2 years ago | 2 comments

I’m not talking about a canvas tag with some WebXR/WebGPU/WebGL. I’m talking about VR having it’s ‘world-wide web’ moment instead of headsets being expensive, digital walled gardens. Seems to me that VR headsets have eaten themselves already. For example, A common criticism of Apple Vision Pro is “What problem does this solve? What is the killer app?”. Before the world-wide web, I believe the home personal computer was primarily used for games, similar to VR right now.

Actual HTML is a poor fit for this solution. Our ‘document’ metaphor doesn’t really translate so well to virtual space unless we’re doing work designed for the space (like spreadsheets or code). In such a case, floating windows may be appropriate to replace modern desktops. Otherwise, I think we need a protocol and language of some kind to serve and describe virtual space, either from the headsets or larger infrastructure.

Is anyone working something like this?

PaulHoule 2 years ago |

There was VRML back in the day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRML

but see Clay Shirky's criticism that is referenced there.

I've been working on art projects that anticipate "the metaverse" for a while and was wanting to get a jump on Apple Vision development so I got myself a Hololens 1 on Ebay. It is based on holographic waveguides which are very different than the video processing approach Apple Vision takes but from a software architecture viewpoint I suspect it is very similar. Hololens would like to be controllerless like Apple Vision and even uses the same pinching gesture except the Hololens makes you hold your hand up to face level to make the click which will tire you out very quickly.

The Hololens does simultaneous localization and mapping to develop a coordinate system for the places where you use it and you can put a 3-d object (or "hologram") in a room, leave the room, and it will still be there when you get back. Apple Vision is going to need some framework to do the same.

People are doing a lot of VR development with game development frameworks such as Unity and Unreal Framework.

The #1 problem that I have with the Hololens is that I want to share the experiences I have with it and that's very difficult, it is a hassle to take on and put off and the manual says it is very fragile, I don't want to hand it to lots of people. One way or another it is very isolating to wear an AR or VR headset.

Of course for me it is more material for my art projects and if it takes some effort to create the impression I want that's what it is. But for most people there has to be a bridge between the AR/VR world and ordinary desktop and phones. For instance if I am playing a VR game I want to be able to put something up on the TV so friends and family can "look over my shoulder". An environment like Horizon Worlds really has to be visitable without the headset, the same way Decentraland is. A "hologram" visible in AR should also be visible looking through a phone, etc. I should be able to participate in a video conference w/ mainstream platforms if I am wearing an Apple Vision.

I think portable applications will be possible, It looks as if I could target both Hololens and Apple Vision with Unity. But I think having a foot in the desktop/phone world will be essential, not only because the market for AR/VR experiences will be tiny, but because in the long term this will get people interested in AR/VR experiences.

janetacarr 2 years ago | |

ah, thanks for the tip!