Mozilla, the non-profit company behind Firefox web browser, today announced a new cross-platform, open sourced web browser called Firefox Reality, something Mozilla says was built from the ground-up for standalone VR and AR headsets.

Firefox Reality, Mozilla says in a blog post, has a specific focus on serving up the web to “a wide variety of devices and platforms” including standalone headsets such as HTC Vive Focus.

Check out an early preview of Firefox Reality running on HTC Vive Focus below:

Most every headset has, or will have, a web browser of its own, although Mozilla is planting a flag in the ground with their upcoming Firefox Reality much the same way they did with the standard version Firefox by providing a solution that’s not only hardware agnostic, but also acts as ground zero for integrating larger AR/VR projects such as WebVR and WebAR.

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The idea behind WebAR/VR is to create a whole new way of delivering and interacting with virtual experiences, which would necessarily be web-based and not hosted on dedicated content stores. For now, these have been smaller, lightweight experiences for quick consumption, but Mozilla sees the utility of these web-based experiences growing in potential.

“Mixed reality is the wild west,” writes Mozilla Chief R&D Officer Sean White. “How do you type? How do you express emotion? How do you view the billions of existing 2D web pages as well as new 3D content? How do you communicate? Who maps the world and who controls what you see? Can we build on our work with voice recognition and connected devices to create a better browsing experience? We love tackling these questions. Everything is new again, and we are constantly building and experimenting to find the right answers.”

It’s still early days for Firefox Reality, and while the company hasn’t announced a list of supported headsets, the open source nature of the project makes it hypothetically easy for manufacturers to add the browser to their platform. The company says they’ll be providing updates on when Firefox Reality will be available on headsets via their Twitter soon.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Darren Hill

    Man they really need to make it so we can have each tab as a new window somewhere in the world as in Minority Report! ;)

    • Dylan Fallis

      That already exists for Oculus, called Oculus Dash.

      • Jistuce

        Or for a platform-agnostic solution, VR Toolbox.

    • Sandra

      Google offers all people 97 US dollars per/hr.. & with each week reliably paychecks … Any person can also catch it!!!on Monday I bought a great new Lotus Elise after I been making $6327 this past four weeks .it’s definitly nicest-work however you may no longer forgive yourself if you don’t view it.!eg1001q:➻➻➻ http://GoogleInfoHighestPaidWorkFromHomeJobs/earncash/$99/per-hour ★★p★v★p★c★★★w★x★★z★★q★f★★★h★f★p★★★u★★k★★★h★r★★t★j★c★l★★m★s★v★i★★v::::::::!fh87v:wevkurl

    • Geoffrey Griffin

      I use for that very reason, its the closest Ive seen to a minority report display.

  • Firestorm185

    Does this work on PC VR Headsets? Really missin’ out if it doesn’t!

  • Considering that I’ve tried WebVR on the Focus and it doesn’t work, I’m happy of this news!

  • Peter Hansen

    A good thing is that they really can take their time for developing the sh** out of this browser. With the current HMDs’ resolution I don’t really like reading anything in VR.

  • Ben Robertson

    I thought you were reporting on innovation this has been available in JANUSVR for years (yes really years) platform agnostic etc bla bla bla ble ble ble, surely there must be video clip of some thing exciting and novel happening in the firefox browser