What Makes "WebVR" Attractive? A Look at VR in the Browser

2016 was called the first year of VR, and VR brought attention from various fields to the IT, the Web, and the Gaming industry. Products that can be experienced through VR closely appeared one after another, and the VR technology capab

In February 2017, Google announced that it would support WebVR within the Chrome browser, and it became big news. Let's look at what makes WebVR such an attractive concept.

The IT Industry Guide is a collection of articles and resources by Internet Academy, Japan's first learning institute specialising in the Web. Here, we introduce you to industry insights in an easy-to-understand manner.

Table of contents

Attractiveness of WebVR that continues to evolve

In VR (virtual reality), you can experience a 'reality' different from the reality in front of you. Traditionally, in order to experience VR, it was necessary to wear a dedicated headset, but now, "WebVR" technology that enables you to experience VR in a web browser using the JavaScript API has made an appearance.

By using WebVR, you can experience VR in a web browser without installing any special software. When introducing a website that supports WebVR, it is possible to share VR experiences with many people simply by sharing the site URL.

WebVR can be applied to simulators of real estate properties, introduction of sightseeing spots, a clothes selection and fitting procedure, etc., as well as an opportunity for promotion of products. It seems like, in the coming future, WebVR technology will become quite deeply ingrained in our daily lives.

Skills necessary for WebVR production - HTML and JavaScript

WebVR allows for anyone to easily experience VR on a web browser without using a dedicated headset, and what makes it special is that it does not require complicated techniques for its production. With HTML and JavaScript, you can easily create a website that supports WebVR.

More specifically, there are two methods. One that uses a mechanism called "WebGL", which expresses 3D graphics, and one that uses a framework for WebVR called "A-Frame".

When using WebGL, you can easily express 3D graphics by using a JavaScript library "three.js". However, this method may be difficult to handle unless you are familiar with WebGL.

For that reason, we recommend that you use A-Frame as a beginner. By loading A-Frame in HTML, it is possible to specify a camera position, add light (light source), and set animations in graphics. If you are working in website creation, why not try challenging yourself with the production of WebVR content?

Experience the actual WebVR

As an example of WebVR, we will introduce the website "xLab" created by us, the Indian branch of Internet Academy.

When you access the URL and click "VR" in the top right corner of the screen (the background of the universe), it instantly switches to VR mode. In the VR mode, the background remains unchanged, and moving the mouse turns the site into a three-dimensional 360 degree screen with depth. Keep rotating until you match the "○" cursor to an icon. On clicking, new content will appear.

The xLab website was nominated for AWWWARDS (a contest site that decides outstanding work from websites around the world) in January 2017. If you have never experienced WebVR, we urge you to visit the site and experience it.

In conclusion

The evolution of WebVR is expected to increase demand, not only in the web industry, but in all industries. If you acquire WebVR production technology, there may be opportunities to be engaged in work such creating a site to promote a company, or product viewing and introduction pages on an e-commerce site.

Internet Academy is a member of the W3C (an organization that defines international standards for the Web) and is an institute where you can learn Programming, Web Design, and cutting-edge technology. We are also a development company that acquires highly specialised skills including WebVR technology through the projects we undertake, which we then transfer into our teaching curriculum. We are also an Authorised Unity Training Center. If learning VR is of interest to you and your career, we urge you to take a look at our Unity Certified Developer Course. If this sounds like it would interest you, please contact us for a free trial lesson to view a class in session and decide whether it may be a good fit for your learnig path.