OpenXR 获得跨平台 Spatial Windowing API

Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality under the OpenXR umbrella continues levelling up, with a new Spatial Windowing API that sounds exciting.

What's happened? The OpenXR Working Group within Khronos just released the Spatial Containers extensions to bring a cross-platform windowing API to XR. What are they? Spatial Containers are system-managed spaces in which applications can display XR content, similar to how traditional applications draw 2D content within windows on a desktop. Spatial containers give developers a standardized way to create applications that can move between immersive experiences and multitasking with the real world or other apps across compatible XR platforms.

This new extension allows OpenXR to extend into multitasking, on-the-go use cases, or persistent spatial experiences. A new published sample lets developers try building apps using the new extensions.

Perhaps sometime over the next year, we might see even more awesome creations and interactions on Valve's new Steam Frame. Standards like this are incredibly important, so developers only need to do things once and have it work across different devices.

Over the course of 18 months the extensions were built thanks to a collaboration between various OpenXR runtime and game engine vendors including the likes of Android XR, Meta, PICO, Collabora, Godot, Unity, and Varjo. Some developer statements on it:

“We believe that the future of XR experiences is being able to be co-present with virtual and real environments across a wide variety of devices, seamlessly blending the real world and the virtual. Google is excited to bring Spatial Container support to Android XR and enable developers to build these XR experiences while leveraging all the skills they already have to build rich and delightful XR experiences. At Google we believe in supporting open standards like OpenXR precisely because it enables developers to maximize their reach and reduces fragmentation across the entire ecosystem.” - Jared Finder, XR platform and SDK lead, Android XR.

“OpenXR established a strong, cross-platform XR foundation for immersive applications. The next step is to move beyond isolated immersive experiences toward computing that is present throughout the day, where multiple applications coexist naturally in the space around us. Spatial Container APIs bring this multi-application model to OpenXR, giving developers common, interoperable building blocks for cooperative spatial experiences. As we collectively push the boundaries of what XR systems can make possible, this is exactly the kind of capability that belongs in an open standard.” — Nikita Lutsenko, Distinguished Software Engineer, Wearables at Meta.

“At PICO, we see spatial computing’s true potential unlocked only when users can seamlessly multitask. The breakthrough of the OpenXR Spatial Containers extension isn't just about rendering spatial windows; it’s about enabling a genuine multi-app ecosystem. By allowing multiple 3D applications to run, coexist and interact with simultaneously within the user's physical environment, we are finally moving past isolated, single-app experiences. This standardized multi-app model is the foundation for a truly dynamic, multitasking-friendly XR workspace that benefits both developers and users.” - Praveen Babu J D - OpenXR Tech Lead, PICO.

“At Collabora, we've been open-first since day 1 for accelerating adoption of open standards in the XR world. Having served as key reviewers of the Spatial Containers extensions, we are proud to help lay the groundwork for standardizing multi-application and shared XR environments. The multi-app spatial containers functionality is a step-change in capability and application model, without abandoning the familiarity of the majority of the OpenXR API. The scope of experiences that can be described and built with OpenXR has now expanded substantially, pre-empting proliferation of proprietary APIs with a collaboratively-built open standard.” - Dr. Rylie Pavlik, Principal Software Engineer at Collabora, Ltd. and OpenXR Specification Editor.

“Godot is thrilled with the release of the OpenXR Spatial Container specification. Spatial Containers bring new capabilities and mental models which are cornerstone to evolving XR applications to work in shared spatial environments, and are key to lowering the barrier of entry for traditional app developers. Godot will support spatial containers in its upcoming release and we are excited to see how developers, both existing and new, leverage these new engine's capabilities.“ - Godot XR Team.

“Unity's promise to XR developers is to build once, and reach users and players across a growing number of XR devices. As XR wearables and devices become more lightweight and accessible they will become our on-the-go spatial accessories for home, work, and play. Spatial Containers provide a foundational layer to support multitasking and spatially situated apps that fit your lifestyle. We’re especially excited to support the growth of OpenXR standards and cross-platform APIs and can’t wait to see how developers use this new extension.” - Tarrah Alexis, Senior Director of Product Management at Unity.

“Varjo has been a contributor and adopter of OpenXR since 2019, Varjo welcomes Spatial Containers as an important step for the standard. Moving OpenXR beyond single, fully immersive apps toward multi-app experiences is an important step, and doing it through a common, cross-platform standard will benefit developers and users across the ecosystem. Varjo is proud to support this work and the continued evolution of OpenXR” — Denny Rönngren, XR System Architect, Varjo.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.