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Khronos Releases OpenXR 1.1 to Further Streamline Cross-Platform XR Development
OpenXR 1.1 consolidates multiple extensions into the core OpenXR specification to reduce fragmentation and simplify development of advanced XR applications.
Press Release Industry Support Presentation
"OpenXR is the glue of the XR industry! Manufacturers now have a specification they can follow to ensure their system is compatible with past, present, and future XR applications. Application developers no longer need to worry about target platforms as OpenXR ensures the app will behave similarly on all conformant devices. Consumers can now choose their preferred headset instead of deciding based on compatibility with their favorite app."
Alfredo Muniz — CTO at XEED
Solving XR Fragmentation
Before OpenXR, developers needed to create separate proprietary code paths to support all the different devices on the market. With OpenXR, developers now have access to a single high-performance cross-platform API that enables them to build a solution once, then easily port and optimize it to reach more customers, while still taking advantage of the innovative features of specific platforms through OpenXR extensions and API layers.
OpenXR standardizes the use of a range of cross-platform XR device capabilities, including:
- Head Mounted Displays
- Controllers
- Base Stations
- Trackers: Body, hand, object, eye, etc.
- Haptic Devices
- Game Engines
- Cloud/5G Infrastructure
- And more ...
OpenXR for Programmers
To the application programmer, OpenXR is a set of functions that interface with a runtime to perform commonly required operations such as accessing controller/peripheral state, getting current and/or predicted tracking positions, and submitting rendered frames.
A typical OpenXR program begins with a call to create an instance which establishes a connection to a runtime. Then a call is made to create a system which selects for use a physical display and a subset of input, tracking, and graphics devices. Subsequently a call is made to create buffers into which the application will render one or more views using the appropriate graphics APIs for the platform. Finally calls are made to create a session and begin the application’s XR rendering loop.
OpenXR for Runtime Implementors
To the runtime implementor, OpenXR is a set of functions that control the operation of the XR system and establishes the lifecycle of a XR application. The implementor’s task is to provide a software library on the host which implements the OpenXR API, while mapping the work for each OpenXR function to the capabilities of the underlying device.
Resources for OpenXR Development
Thanks to the support of the Khronos membership and our passionate developer community, there is a full set of well-supported developer information and educational resources to help quickly get you up and running with your OpenXR development.
- Specification
- Software Development Kit (SDK)
- Reference Pages
- Tutorial - for creating applications using the Android, Linux or Windows. View Blog Post
- Reference Guide (V1.0)
- Conformance Test Suite
Conformant OpenXR Runtimes
The following companies are OpenXR adopters and have Conformant Products. More runtimes are constantly being added.
- Acer: Spatial Display Series
- Bytedance: Neo3 and PICO4
- Canon: MREAL PlatformDisplays and Headsets
- Collabora: Monado open-source OpenXR runtime
- HTC: Vive Focus 3, Vive Cosmos & Vive Wave
- Magic Leap: Magic Leap 2
- Meta: Rift S, Quest and Quest 2
- Microsoft: Hololens and Mixed Reality Headsets
- Qualcomm: Snapdragon Spaces
- Sony: Spatial Reality Displays (ELF-SR1 & ELF-SR2)
- SteamVR: All supported headset
- Varjo: All Varjo headsets
Engines Integrating OpenXR
More engines are being added all the time. If we are missing yours, please Contact Us
- Epic Unreal Engine: OpenXR support since Version 4.24
- Unity: OpenXR plugin since Unity 2020 LTS
- Chrome and Edge: Using WebXR
- WebXR: Supports OpenXR as the default backend
- Godot Game engine: OpenXR support since Core 4.0
- Blender: VR scene graph inspection
- Autodesk VRED & StereoKit
- NVIDIA Omniverse
Companies Supporting OpenXR
Join the OpenXR Community
The OpenXR specification is free for anyone to download, review and comment, and there are several ways to follow the latest OpenXR developments, get your questions answered and give us feedback on the specification and implementations. You'll find thriving OpenXR discussions on several platforms that provide a great way to get involved, and help build out the OpenXR ecosystem.
- OpenXR on Discord
- Khronos OpenXR Forum
- OpenXR Issue Trackeron GitHub
- Developing OpenXR Resources? Let Us Know.
If you would like to participate directly in the development of the OpenXR standard please consider Joining Khronos and the OpenXR Working Group.
OpenXR Conformance
The OpenXR Conformance Test Suite (CTS) is available on GitHub and helps to create a reliable platform for developers by ensuring that OpenXR is implemented consistently across all platforms. If your company is developing a product that implements OpenXR, and passes CTS, then you should consider becoming an official adopter to enjoy the following benefits, and you don't need to be a Khronos member to become an Adopter.
- Usage of the OpenXR name and logo in association with your product
- IP protection under the Khronos IP Framework
- Products promoted in the Khronos OpenXR Conformant Products listing
Alfredo Muniz
Chair of the OpenXR Working Group, and CTO, XEED
“OpenXR 1.1 marks a significant milestone in the development of this open standard that has become widely adopted throughout the XR industry. OpenXR 1.0 provided baseline capabilities and the foundation for experimentation with new functionality through extensions. Now the Working Group is pivoting to manage regular core specification updates that balance the need for flexibility to ship new functionality with consolidation of proven technology to reduce fragmentation and enable true cross-platform application portability. By simplifying development while fostering innovation, we aim to empower developers to concentrate on creating groundbreaking immersive, cross-platform experiences. OpenXR 1.1 embodies the collective dedication of the Working Group and the extended XR community to refine and advance the OpenXR standard while being responsive to the dynamic requirements of a rapidly evolving ecosystem.”
Frederic Plourde
XR lead, Collabora
“Collabora is thrilled about the release of OpenXR 1.1, a significant milestone that underscores the importance given to free standards in the XR industry. As pioneers in the free and open source XR ecosystem, Collabora has made substantial investments in Monado, the leading open source OpenXR runtime, to ensure seamless compatibility and performance across a wide range of devices. We would like to take this opportunity to deeply appreciate the dedicated efforts of the OpenXR Working Group members who generously contributed their time, expertise, and insights to bring this release to reality. We eagerly anticipate the broader OpenXR adoption that will result from this release.”
Steven Zhang
Founder and CEO, Kivisense
"We are delighted to know about the OpenXR 1.1 version release. Kivisense has been intensively exploring the frontier innovation in the AR world with our AR engine service. As a long time supporter of OpenXR and an ecosystem partner, we appreciated huge efforts by members in the working group who contributed their time and wisdom in it and got it completed. We will keep our AR engine service as part of OpenXR ecosystem, and help to make it more prosperous."
Jonathan Wright
senior staff engineer, Meta
"Meta has been committed to building an open, cross-platform standard for the XR industry since the inception of the OpenXR standard in 2016. The OpenXR 1.1 release is one more step towards making it easier for developers to build XR applications. We continue to support the evolution of the OpenXR standard as we work to build an open and interoperable XR ecosystem."
Jian Zhang
Head of XR Foundation engineering, PICO
"PICO is excited about the OpenXR 1.1 release, which marks another important step towards improving industry standardization for cross-platform XR applications development. PICO has been an adopter of OpenXR 1.0, providing a conformant runtime on PICO Neo3 and PICO 4 devices since 2022. PICO actively contributed to the OpenXR 1.1 specification discussions, and our runtime implementation will soon be updated to fully support OpenXR 1.1. We look forward to continuing to advance cross-platform XR development together with the Working Group and the community."
Brian Vogelsang
Senior Director Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies
"Snapdragon Spaces is the platform of choice for many Virtual, Mixed, and Augmented Reality OpenXR conformant products today. We are thrilled with the release of the OpenXR 1.1 specification and the promotion of new extensions that accelerate the pace of innovation in XR and foster an open ecosystem and community. This is an important milestone for the XR industry, reducing fragmentation and adding new features that simplify the creation of immersive applications for developers."
Yu Zhang
Vice president software development, XREAL
"XREAL enthusiastically welcomes the OpenXR 1.1 release, a key milestone in fostering unified development for immersive experiences. We are gearing up for the launch of our new product lineup in 2024, which includes an innovative computing device, a continuously updated SDK package, and the XREAL Nebula OS. Committed to integrating OpenXR 1.1 specifications across our entire product line, we aim to provide developers with the essential tools for crafting innovative AR and VR experiences across platforms. We're excited to contribute to this global endeavor, advancing the potential of virtual and augmented reality."
Asii Wu
Vice President, HTC
"This marks a significant milestone for OpenXR—an impressive achievement in advancing an open ecosystem. At HTC, we remain committed to open standards, streamlining the creation of XR experiences. We will continue to support OpenXR 1.1 for both PC and AIO, are excited about the new release and look forward to the thriving growth of the OpenXR community."
Yi Xu
Director of XR Technology, OPPO
"OPPO is excited about the OpenXR 1.1 global release. It's a critical achievement for the XR industry to build a prosperous XR ecosystem. As a long-time supporter of OpenXR, we are applying OpenXR specification on OPPO's XR products. OPPO is an innovative company in exploring technologies, products, content, and services for XR. Equipped with the advanced capabilities of OpenXR to empower developers, our latest OPPO MR Glass Developer Edition represents our continuous exploration in this direction."
Zhang Son
Head of Software Technology, Play For Dream Technologies
"Our company is committed to building an open and inclusive XR content ecosystem to promote XR content prosperity, which is in line with the original intention of the OpenXR standard. Today, the OpenXR 1.1 version has been released, and we are honored to continue embracing this standard, providing developers with a more compatible and efficient development experience, allowing them to focus more on creative work and further enrich the XR application ecosystem and scenarios. We believe this will also bring great value to our upcoming next-generation spatial computing devices."
Zhemin Li
head of International Business Group, Rokid
"Rokid congratulates OpenXR 1.1 release and its new achievement, and we are very supportive of industry’s effort on OpenXR, and appreciate its positive contribution over a long period of time. Rokid is a company focusing on human-computer interaction, hoping to make human life better through advanced technologies, and also hopes to make XR more affordable through our efforts. Rokid currently has many AR products in the market and will release a new generation of personal spatial computing suite in the near future, which will further narrow the distance between the technology and ordinary people."
David Chu
vice president of Spatial Computing and XR, NVIDIA,
"NVIDIA regards OpenXR as a key open standard as it enables portable access to diverse XR devices. OpenXR 1.1 is an important step in consolidating important functionality while reducing fragmentation for developers. NVIDIA is working to leverage OpenXR in its CloudXR Suite that enables flexible delivery of sophisticated immersive experiences to a broad range of devices."
Peter Kuhn
Principal software engineer, Unity
"Unity is excited for the release of OpenXR 1.1, a step forward for standardization in the XR industry. As advocates for open ecosystems and interoperability, we recognize the importance of OpenXR in simplifying development workflows and empowering creators to build immersive experiences that can seamlessly run across a variety of hardware platforms. With OpenXR 1.1, developers using Unity can expect enhanced compatibility which will ultimately accelerate the growth of the XR community and unlock new possibilities for immersive storytelling."
Nathan Nuber
Programmer, Valve
"OpenXR 1.1 brings clarity and ease of use to the widespread OpenXR standard. With the most commonly used extensions now included in the core, it will be easier for developers to have confidence in relying on the features they need. These updates also promote simplicity and uniformity as new features are added down the line; something we’re super into given our goal of an ecosystem that can apply a developer’s work across hardware and runtimes."
Denny Rönngren
OpenXR system architect, Varjo
"Varjo has been a contributor and adopter of OpenXR since 2019, and we are excited to be able to equip our enterprise customers with the cutting-edge capabilities of OpenXR 1.1. Among other important updates, the quad view configuration is a core part of this release, lowering the threshold for developers to render in human-eye resolution with Varjo's mixed reality headsets. We look forward to the transformative impact OpenXR 1.1 will have on the XR industry at large."
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Join Khronos and Help Drive the Evolution of OpenXR
The Khronos OpenXR Working Group is actively driving the evolution of the standard and its accompanying conformance tests and the broader ecosystem. Any organization is welcome to join Khronos to shape this important global initiative under the group’s multi-company, consensus-based governance process. Khronos has multiple levels of membership to enable any organization, large or small to get involved. If you want to participate directly in the development of the OpenXR standard please consider Joining Khronos and the OpenXR Working Group.
- Join the Khronos Group
- Current Khronos Members
- Adopt Khronos Standards
- Contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for additional information
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