Thread by @kentbye

1/ THREAD covering #WebXR Developer Summit highlights.

Opening by @webxrawards' @powersimple + @TrevorFSmith as host who set the context of the immersive, wider web.

Livestreams:
twitch.tv/webxrsummit/
Morning session:
Afternoon:

2/ Looking at the tech stack for #WebXR (interesting to see watches included in the discussion of WebXR) + the schedule for the day for the WebXR Developer Summit.

3/ @mrdoob have a bit of history & context in the evolution of @threejs, and then answered some questions about the most popular, open source graphics library on the web.

4/ @DePanther is talking about using exporting WebXR from Unity. There's a number of different exporters, including one he maintains:
github.com/De-Panther/uni…

Downsides to this approach are build size + download times, testing iteration times & can't use all aspects of Unity yet.

5/ More from @DePanther on which WebXR APIs are supported in the Unity WebXR Export + what's coming next.

6/ @DePanther recommends doing smaller gamejam projects to start with WebXR from Unity.
He listed a bunch of WebXR examples exported from Unity:
msub2.github.io/silk-brush/
drone.sectortech.app
prefontalcortex.de/en/projects/di…
needle.tools
worldsdemolisher.totalviz.com

7/ @samsunginternet's @AdaRoseCannon moderating "All-In-One Workflow" panel featuring @stew_rtsmith of #AmazonSumerian (and handy.js), @willeastcott of @playcanvas, & Jonathan Hale of Wonderland @WebXREngine.
Featuring some of the benefits & challenges WebXR frameworks.

8/ Three Google engineers @cwilso, @DaKangz, & @Tojiro talking Low-Level APIs like #WebGPU.
More info: webgpu.io
It'll be leveraged by higher-level frameworks like @threejs & @aframevr.
Shout out to extensiblewebmanifesto.org
Risks of fingerprinting via WebXR APIs

9/ @MetaVRse engine demo by CTO @walida16 publishing WebXR scenes for both AR & VR without needing to know any code.
Free account at: engine.metavrse.com
Demo scene created during the talk: engine.metavrse.com/view?i=5099

10/ Co-chairs of the @ImmersiveWebW3C @AdaRoseCannon & @cwilso (also @ayssomething) giving an update on the W3C #WebXR Roadmap with a brief historical overview, WebXR is seeing lots of growth connected to the Oculus Browser on Quest, & still Cardboard users watching 360 videos.

11/ Showing 3 @webxrawards winning experiences:
Reaction Towermax Fitness boxing game
towermax.fitness/reaction/

What You Don't Know music experience
with.in/watch/what-you…

AnVRopomotron educational experience
anvropomotron.com

My full thread 👇

12/ Covering the main features of #WebXR including the core that replaced WebVR.
AR Module to show WebXR scenes on top of passthrough camera or transparent display.
Gamepads to get access to input controllers

13/ Other main #WebXR features include Hit Test raycasting to select virtual objects, DOM Overlays on top of graphics (for handheld phone-based AR devices only), Layers for static images, video, or WebRTC content in WebXR (layers may have DOM content in future), & hand input.

14/ A look at some of the future #WebXR features in development. These features may or may not ever land, & they're soliciting feedback & user interest.
Light estimation: github.com/immersive-web/…
Depth Sensing: github.com/immersive-web/…
Anchors: github.com/immersive-web/…

15/ Some more #WebXR features in development:
Computer Vision: github.com/immersive-web/…
Real-World Geometry: github.com/immersive-web/…
Geographic Alignment: github.com/immersive-web/…
Navigation: github.com/immersive-web/…

16/ Next Steps: @ImmersiveWebW3C needs to move WebXR, AR Module, & Gamepad module specs to the Candidate Recommendation stage to move towards being a @W3C official standard.
Bringing more Web features to WebXR (Oculus Browser working on navigation between pages on same domain).

17/ @jacobrossi: @Oculus Browser
@genevievemak: @magicleap Browser
Browsers super popular apps, making Web more integrated part of platforms, multi-app?, multi-screen, Future of WebXR: use cases, maturation of content, recommended sites, PWAs, better docs, monetization, tooling.

18/ @dubenko_ on using WebXR within the React ecosystem with React-XR & React Three Fiber.

Developed by Poimandres (@pmndrs) open source developer collective: github.com/pmndrs

React Three Fiber (#r3f): github.com/pmndrs/react-t…

React XR: github.com/pmndrs/react-xr

19/ Showing React-XR code examples featuring<DefaultXRControllers / > <Hands />, & <Interactive />, live code push.
See Oculus Developer Hub Update tool linked below in order to open up URLs directly on the Oculus Web Browser from your development desktop:

20/ @dubenko_ showing @plockleVR #WebXR game:
plockle.com

Made with react-three-fiber & react-xr:
github.com/pmndrs/react-t…
github.com/pmndrs/react-xr

npm install @react-three/xr

Enjoys fast dev iterations.
Looking forward to using AR & WebGPU.

21/ Troika JS framework author @lojjic talking about #WebXR optimization tips
(github.com/protectwise/tr…)
90 fps 😎
60 fps 😊
45 fps 😐
<45 fps 🤮

22/ More #WebXR optimization tips from @lojjic

23/ Last #WebXR optimization tips from @lojjic.

You can look check out his Troika JS framework here:
github.com/protectwise/tr…

24/ Here's the list of #WebXR Developer Summit sponsors & partners.
Organized by @webxrawards.
Hosted by @TrevorFSmith.

25/ Sponsor @ZapparApp showed their Universal AR Development Flow, which is a browser-based AR software solution for world tracking, image tracking, face tracking that doesn't use the WebXR API.
A tonal shift to see a proprietary competitor to WebXR at the WebXR Developer Summit.

26/ NEW STREAM LINK for the afternoon session of the WebXR Developer Summit:


@Lisi_Linares is moderating a session on the future of Events and Entertainment in #WebXR with @amoration, @kmalickisanchez, @jonofyi, @brendanAbradley.

27/ #WebXR makes virtual spaces accessible to PC, Quest & mobile phones opening up new opportunities to performers for new grammar of storytelling.

Platforms: @MozillaHubs & Spoke, @now_urnowhere, @frame_vr.

Shout out to @open_metaverse interoperability:

28/ @brendanAbradley on immersive tech + performance + accessibility, & @kmalickisanchez says accessibility still needs a lot of work to be done with SDKs and toolkits to be created, & @amoration cited @open_metaverse & Creating Realities Hackathon as resources.

29/ Talking about education in #WebXR w @blairmacintyre of Georgia Tech, @davidbassclark of @UnityCollege, @__Ka1 of @ExploreKaiXR, which will focus on Explore (with 100+ field trips), & soon Dream & Create:
kaixr.com
Students often don't usually have latest tech.

30/ Building spatial communities w @MozillaHubs's @elginskye & @brianpeiris + @janusxr's @bai0.
Private invites for Hubs, Janus private by default dampened community building, being surprised by what's built, Avatar persistence across worlds (glTF+VRM) @open_metaverse, & identity

31/ @LiamBroza on Creating Immersive Social Spaces. with @xr_engine:
github.com/XRFoundation/X…
opencollective.com/xrengine

XR Foundation code collective founded by @laguna_labs.
Github: github.com/xrfoundation

Creating ecommerce metaverse spaces & collaborating with other companies.

32/ @XR_Engine scene.
Core packages of engine, three-physx, native, bot (virtual beings), & docs.
UX Packages core 2D react UI components, avatar apps, social graph, training & inference with client-ml, avatar framework based on VRM + Body IK tools.
3d pipeline Content Tools

33/ @xr_engine targeted @capacitorjs to run web apps natively.
Collaborating with @open_metaverse group for interoperability on user profiles, avatars, friends, inventory, home world, wallets & common shapes.
Open Source Universal Volumetric *.uvol format
wildcapture.io/volumetric

34/ More details on @xr_engine at xrengine.io
Code: github.com/XRFoundation/X…
Follow @LiamBroza for more updates.

35/ @XRSIdotorg's @KavyaPearlman talking about building safe & inclusive immersive environments.

Intro video:


Talking about some of the risks of biometrically-inferred data + risks to privacy, safety, & identity.

36/ @KavyaPearlman on XR Security & attack surfaces, considerations, novel attacks in XR, and some of the WebXR Risk Mitigation categories.

37/ More from @KavyaPearlman on Risk Mitigation, XR Tech Policy & potential regulation, @XRSIdotorg Privacy Safety Framework 1.1, some XR policy recommendations for the US Federal Government, and Ready Hacker One XR news updates & interviews
readyhackerone.com

38/ @SiliconHarlem CEO Clayton Banks (@embertime) on how a technology exposure gap leads to an access gaps leads to a wealth gap.
Talking about bringing to a 5G Test Bed to students in Harlem.
siliconharlem.com

39/ Shoutouts to some of the WebXR Developer Summit sponsors (1/2)
FutureWei (affiliate of Huawei Technologies Company)
futurewei.com
@metaprime_net Experimental NFT Landscapes: metaprime.network
Curation of WebXR Experiences: extendedcollection.com

40/ Shoutouts to some of the WebXR Developer Summit sponsors (2/2)
#UniVirtual Experience by @EducatorsVR:
educatorsinvr.com/univirtual-exp…

Immersive Wire Newsletter by @TomFfiske:
virtualperceptions.com/immersive-wire…

@ZapparApp web-based AR functionality.

41/ @raananw talking about @babylonjs & WebXR.

42/ More on @babylonjs + WebXR: guiding principles, implementation concepts, & what comes out of the box.

43/ @babylonjs & WebXR: multi-device support, AR support, Future Plans, some code & demos.

@babylonjs Goalie Trainer Demo:
playground.babylonjs.com/#PPM311#63

44/ @babylonjs Demos continued:

Tennis Playground
playground.babylonjs.com/#CHF3KW#39

AR Wack-a-rabbit
playground.babylonjs.com/#KMNNUS#27

Saberball XR
…ame--babylonjs-webxr-demo.netlify.app

Other Demos:
playground.babylonjs.com/#X7Y4H8#16
playground.babylonjs.com/#NPWMNR#107
playground.babylonjs.com/#B922X8#19

45/ @frame_vr is using @babylonjs.
framevr.io

More details on @babylonjs here:
babylonjs.com

46/ @00davehill00 talking about the Oculus Browser, which shipped default WebXR in December 2019.
[Me: The Oculus Browser team has been doing an amazing job at rapidly iterating]
Progression of Immersive Web development ecosystem (we're likely between emerging & capable phases).

47/ @00davehill00 says WebXR needs must-have web-based experiences: mass-market appeal, clear value in VR, polished & inspiring. @active_theory's #SecretSky event was the closest so far.
Show value > more investment, tools, more devs > more experiences.

48/ Oculus Focus:
Core WebXR Functionality (hands, layers, DOM layers).
Developer Docs
Dev Tools like workflow improvements + optimization & performance debugging
Supporting WebXR devs & feedback
Hands-on experiences 3D/360 photos on facebook.com, sample WebXR content.

49/ Oculus will be featuring WebXR content on the Oculus Browser "New Tab Page."

You can submit your WebXR page here:
developer.oculus.com/documentation/…

50/ Dr. @chekeichan talking about his virtual anthropology museum he built called AnVRopomotron, which won the @webxrawards' Poly for best educational experience:
anvropomotron.com

51/ @chekeichan built his virtual museum in @aframevr + @glitch playground:
glitch.com/~aframe

Used @creativecommons models from:
@sketchfab: sketchfab.com
Smithsonian Open Access: si.edu/openacess
MyMiniFactory: Scan the World: myminifactory.com/ScantheWorld

52/ @chekeichan also used @Blender + @grantabbitt's Low Poly Animals YouTube tutorial:


Used Professional Development resources at his University to develop this.
Got help on @StackOverflow & @github.

53/ @dmarcos on @aframevr's goal to integrate every new devices & APIs that become available like a raw camera API to do computer vision, hand input, gesture recognition, marker-based AR + location API.
Networked Aframe community used in @MozillaHubs.
aframe.io

54/ @dmarcos gave a shout out to how fast the Oculus Browser team has been iterating and implementing APIs + the underlying Chrome browser team.
Here's that clip posted earlier:

55/ @SophiaMosh interviewing the @active_theory team on their #SecretSky experience including @nickmountford, @athlndr, @michaeltheory, Mo Elkholti, & Michael Kim.

Here's Eventbrite for the WebXR Summit Afterparty on the @dreamwave platform (max 200 ppl): eventbrite.com/e/webxr-develo…

56/ Link for the WebXR Summit After Party in Eventbrite, which starts at 5p PDT (limit of 200 people).
eventbrite.com/e/webxr-develo…

Looking forward to connecting to the WebXR developers and attendees on @active_theory's @dreamwave platform.

57/ Final Thank Yous from @powersimple & @webxrawards team on producing the WebXR Developer Summit.

I'm hopping into the After Party now.