Meta simplifies WebXR access on Quest headsets
Web Launch is a new feature for Quest 2 and Quest Pro that provides faster access to WebXR content.
At Meta Connect 2022, Meta introduced a major upgrade for the Meta Quest Browser: the program now supports mixed reality.
This means that the Meta Quest Browser can open and display WebXR content that takes advantage of mixed reality interfaces on the Meta Quest 2 (review) and Quest Pro (review). These include passthrough mode, spatial recognition, and spatial anchoring of digital objects.
You can now try this out for yourself using Meta's Spatial Fusion tech demo - without an app installation and directly from the Meta Quest browser.
Web Launch: For a quick switch to VR
Opening the Meta Quest browser and searching for content in the headset complicates the otherwise simple accessibility of WebXR content. Meta will simplify access to WebXR content in the future with a feature called Web Launch .
Web Launch allows users to send WebXR content from the web or smartphone to the Quest headset. The headset either saves it for later viewing or opens it immediately in the Meta Quest browser. This allows for a quick and easy switch from 2D to VR for a WebXR experience without having to search the headset beforehand.
How Web Launch works
The following video uses Matterport to illustrate how this switch works. Matterport is a platform dedicated to the 3D digitization of physical locations. Think use cases like marketing real estate. Meta and Matterport cooperated on the integration of Web Launch into Matterport's Internet service.
The video example shows a penthouse property on Matterport's smartphone platform. Sent to Meta Quest 2, the experience opens in VR or WebXR within seconds. Users can thus switch on the fly between the 2D view on their smartphone and the immersive VR view of the property. The destination can also be optionally saved for later viewing on the headset and in the Meta-Quest app.
Preparing for the web launch of Horizon Worlds?
The ability to send URLs from the smartphone to the headset for saving or automatic opening in the Meta Quest browser is not new and is called Link Sharing (instructions). Web Launch is apparently an extension of this somewhat older Quest feature, specialized for WebXR content. Meta wants to use it to make WebXR content more popular and more frequently accessed.
Web Launch should also prepare for the launch of the web version of Horizon Worlds. Meta's Proto-Metaverse is expected to expand from VR to the web soon.
VR users should then be able to generate Horizon URLs and send them via Messenger and Whatsapp, allowing friends to participate in Horizon Worlds events without a headset. Web Launch facilitated the reverse - switching from a Horizon URL to the corresponding VR experience.
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