Facebook's Oculus Quest gets web-based VR with Firefox Reality browser
Mozilla's new browser gives Facebook's no-wires headset a boost, but there's still little indication of mainstream interest in VR.
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Mozilla's Firefox Reality browser lets you watch video on VR headsets, including Facebook's Oculus Quest.
Firefox Reality, Mozilla's virtual reality browser, now supports Facebook's Oculus Quest headset. It already worked with the HTC Vive Focus Plus, the Lenovo Mirage and some other VR headsets. But the $400 Oculus Quest, with no wires tethering your headset to a PC, is a new, high-profile option in the world of VR. My colleague Scott Stein says the Quest's "full-motion untethered design feels like the future."
"Firefox Reality takes advantage of the Oculus Quest's boost in performance and capabilities to deliver the best VR web browsing experience," Mozilla said in a blog post Thursday.
VR browsers use VR-adapted web technology so developers can create 3D virtual realms that span multiple VR devices. That universality is potentially helpful for VR fans disappointed about how little there is to do with their specific headsets. For example, even games written for the wired Oculus Rift don't automatically work on the Oculus Quest.
Mozilla's Firefox Reality browser lets VR headset owners see a VR version of the web.
The Oculus Quest is a big deal in the world of VR headsets, but that's still a limited distinction because VR hasn't caught on widely. In 2018, Microsoft scrapped plans for a VR headset for its Xbox game console. Another CNET colleague, Dan Ackerman, a VR "true believer," has given up for now.
Mozilla helped pioneer VR browser technology with its work on the initial WebVR standard for creating VR content, with its WebXR that embraces augmented reality too, and with its A-Frame programming framework that takes care of a lot of the heavy lifting for VR content creators.