Mozilla unveils Firefox Reality browser for VR and AR headsets

Mozilla has announced Firefox Reality, a new web browser designed for the next generation of standalone virtual and augmented reality headsets.

The company gave its first glimpse of Firefox Reality in a video posted on the Mozilla blog and said that it will release regular updates on its work in the coming weeks – including details of the design process and previews of Firefox Reality running on a variety of headsets.

Mozilla said that Firefox Reality was built from the ground up using existing Firefox web technology and enhancements from Servo, its experimental web engine.

“From Firefox, we get decades of web compatibility as well as the performance benefits of Firefox Quantum. From the Servo team (who recently joined the Mixed Reality team), we will gain the ability to experiment with entirely new designs and technologies for seeing and interacting with the immersive web,” said Mozilla.

With the announcement it has released the source code for Firefox Reality along with developer builds for a number of platforms. While the browser is designed for next-gen standalone VR and AR headsets, during initial development its source code will also run in developer mode on Daydream and Gear VR devices.

The news comes after former members of Mozilla VR’s original team launched a separate virtual reality browser for web VR content in February, called Supermedium.