A 3-D VR interior from Matterport
This week, Google is updating its Chrome browser for Android with the first browser support for Web VR — a capability that could dramatically affect the use and development of VR content.
Previously, if a user wanted to view VR content in a stereo headset viewer like Google’s Daydream View, you had to download one of a number of VR apps. Like the company’s Cardboard viewer, Daydream View works with a smartphone as the display and processing unit. This newest Chrome is the stable release; a beta version of Chrome with WebVR support was announced in December.
In this WebVR-supporting Chrome browser, the user can simply click a button and then see the material as VR in the viewer. WebVR supports Daydream’s accelerator for tracking head movements, and its remote control. Or users can view non-stereo VR content through Chrome on a desktop or laptop and navigate it with their finger or a mouse. No separate app to download, no multitude of apps that developers need to target.
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