Announcing the Immersive Web Working Group

Over the past several years, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technology has grown from a handful of developer kits to millions of capable devices in our hands everyday. During this time the W3C’s Immersive Web Community Group (formerly known as the WebVR Community Group) has been exploring how this VR/AR technology intersects with the web.  Among these efforts were the first W3C Workshop on Web & Virtual Reality in October 2016 and the subsequent creation of the WebXR Device API.

With multiple browsers and libraries beginning to adopt the nascent WebXR Device API, it’s now time to formalize the Immersive Web as part of the broader web platform.  To that end, the Immersive Web Working Group has launched today alongside the existing Immersive Web Community Group.

Going forward, the Working Group will take over ownership of the WebXR Device API, freeing the Community Group to continue incubating new APIs that will broaden the options for developers targeting web-focused AR/VR. These two groups will work side-by-side to make the web a first-class platform for immersive technologies.

We are looking forward to the first face-to-face meeting of the Immersive Web Working Group at TPAC in October, and the dawn of a new computing platform building on the web.

To find out more, check out our website, and to get involved or follow along with the work, you can take a look at our Github.

— Ada Rose Cannon and Chris Wilson, IWWG co-chairs Trevor Smith, IWCG chair