The way in which we experience and interact with technology has undergone a massive change ever since the advent of Virtual Reality (VR). Despite this fact, it has failed to burst into the mainstream – at least not yet!
VR today is limited to cardboard boxes that turn smartphones into virtual reality headsets. Developers, however, are pushing for VR standards for web browsers. Virtual Reality and the web are now getting closer and closer.
So, what about website support for Virtual Reality?
For successfully implementing Virtual Reality for the web, we need libraries that support it. WebVR is a JavaScript library that offers access to the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard on your web browser. Essentially this kind of libraries makes virtual reality available in regular web browsers rather than specialized apps.
These capabilities are already built in the nightly builds of Firefox and Chrome and their adoption is increasing by the day.
Now, imagine a site that provides information about different famous places. Instead of reading about it, you could actually experience these places virtually.
WordPress and Virtual Reality (VR)
WordPress just announced that all WordPress.co sites will now support virtual reality images and videos.
VR views help you embed 360-degree mono and stereoscopic images and videos into your WordPress site. It uses Google’s VR Views library which makes it compatible with Google Cardboard. In order to handle the issues with responsive design, and users who do not have Google Cardboard, the plug-in defaults to a magic window that will work on any desktop or mobile browser – regardless of hardware. This magic window allows users to move their screens around to view the image in 360 degrees but lacks true virtual reality.
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For WordPress, you will need the WP-VR-view plug-in. It lets you add the Google Cardboard compatible virtual reality media to your WordPress site. Smartphone users can easily move between the regular mode and take advantage of their VR hardware.
With the inclusion of virtual reality for WordPress blogs, virtual reality images, and videos, it seems that technology is already taking hold and is waiting to be accessible to everyone. A few years will see more widespread implementations of virtual reality – it’s only a matter of time.
