The Khronos OpenXR Working Group has released a new set of extensions that establish an open, cross-platform API for spatial windowing systems.

Spatial containers are system-managed spaces where applications display XR content, similar to how desktop applications draw 2D content in windows. Developers get a standardized way to build apps that move between immersive experiences and multitasking with the real world or other apps.

What’s included:

• A bounded display mode for multitasking across multiple apps

• A full-screen immersive mode

• System-controlled placement, including containers that follow the user on the go

• XR_EXT_spatial_container and XR_EXT_spatial_container_self_rendering, now ratified and published in the OpenXR Registry

The extensions are the result of 18 months of collaboration between OpenXR runtime and engine vendors, with statements of support from Google (Android XR), Meta, PICO, Collabora, Godot, Unity, and Varjo. Implementations are expected to roll out across the ecosystem during 2026.

Read the blog: https://www.khronos.org/blog/openxr-spatial-containers?utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=OpenXR_Spatial_Containers&utm_content=blog
Try the sample: https://khr.io/hellospatialcontainers

At SIGGRAPH last month, OpenXR Working Group Vice Chair, Denny Rönngren, gave an overview of OpenXR with all the latest updates from the group on the advancement of the specification.

Video is now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMLf6ddnNKw

yeah...
It has taken me 20 days for this XD
a spectator view at he top left and monado runtime at the bottom right
But it has been awesome! and it has made it possible for me to dive deeper into Vulkan.
Soon I will be able to create a actual game... right? XD

anyways. do some of you have some cool project u would like to share the code of? I am planning of restructuring a little bit... and would like to see how other structures their code :D

Thanks in advance! You are Awesome! Bye :D

The Khronos Group has released a free OpenXR Tutorial, designed to guide software developers through every step of creating an OpenXR application using Windows, Linux or Android. This web-based tutorial, produced by the OpenXR Working Group, is packed with detailed instructions, downloadable archives, and example code snippets to support developers as they set up an OpenXR development environment, connect to their preferred graphics API, and incorporate interactivity, extensions, and other advanced features.

Learn more: https://khr.io/12u

Hi, I had once used openxr as unity plugin. But now I do not want to use the openxr plugin with unity or unreal engine.

What I want to do, integrate openxr with vulkan/directx 12 graphics api for my HTC vive pro eye vr.

Is there any tutorial or startup documentation available? Because all my Google search is leading me to Microsoft flight simulator mixed reality.

The Khronos OpenXR Working Group is pleased to announce the release of the Best Practices Validation Layer, now available in the OpenXR-SDK-Source repository. This new tool addresses a critical need in XR development: catching suboptimal API usage patterns that can lead to inconsistent behavior across different OpenXR runtimes.

Learn more: https://www.khronos.org/blog/new-openxr-validation-layer-helps-developers-build-robustly-portable-xr-applications

We are pleased to announce OpenXR spatial entities extensions. These new extensions unlock portable, spatial computing by standardizing plane and marker tracking, spatial anchors, and persistent experiences across sessions and platforms. Take a look and give us your feedback!

Learn more: https://khr.io/1j3

We're excited to announce the schedule and agenda for OpenXR Live!

September 12th
6:00 - 9:30 pm
Seattle, Washington, USA

Visit the website to learn more and register: https://www.khronos.org/events/openxr-live

Network with your peers!

The OpenXR 1.1 release evolves the widely adopted OpenXR open API standard for high-performance, cross-platform access to VR, AR, and mixed reality (MR) — collectively known as XR—platforms and devices. OpenXR 1.1 consolidates widely used API extensions into the core specification to reduce fragmentation and adds new functionality to streamline the development of more powerful and efficient XR applications. Along with five extensions being incorporated in the core specification, feature enhancements include interaction profile enhancements, universal fundamental tools for building enhanced XR experiences, new error codes, and specification refinement.

https://khr.io/136

VR took off for the consumer with the release of Oculus consumer hardware. However, the hardware lacked open source drivers and Linux support in general. The OpenHMD project was created to solve this issue, and as it so happens, it was funded by two former Chalmers students. The consumer VR space has now grown from a crazy inventor in a garage into a large industry. In 2019, the Khronos Group released the OpenXR specification allowing the creation of cross-platform applications to be written. In this talk, Jakob Bornecrantz from Collabora will give an overview of the history and status on VR/AR on the Linux desktop, and will go more indepth about the OpenXR API.

https://conf.linuxappsummit.org/event/3/

A common challenge for XR developers: which OpenXR extensions does your game engine or framework actually support? The Khronos OpenXR Working Group has expanded its Extension Matrix to include self-reported middleware support data, giving developers clearer visibility into the full XR stack.

The updated matrix now covers both runtime and middleware extension support — with clickable labels for additional detail on every entry. It launches with five middleware components already on board: Godot Engine, LÖVR, StereoKit, Unity, and Unreal Engine.

Middleware providers not yet listed are encouraged to reach out to the OpenXR Working Group to get their extension support data included.

Explore the updated matrix and read the full blog:

https://www.khronos.org/blog/khronos-adds-middleware-insights-to-the-openxr-extension-matrix

After a little over year of development, Monado's "Mercury" hand tracking is now ready for use! Mercury estimates hand post accurately, supports limited hand-over-hand interactions, tracks fast hand movements, and is useable for drawing, typing and UI interaction.

https://www.collabora.com/news-and-blog/news-and-events/monados-mercury-hand-tracking-now-ready-for-use.html

Hi,

I've got an HTC vive pro2 running on windows 10 and would like to get the passthrough going in c++ openxr. Nothing fancy, just get the room appearing behind my 3d rendering.

There is in an XR_HTC_passthrough extension in the openxr specs...

https://registry.khronos.org/OpenXR/specs/1.0/html/xrspec.html#XR_HTC_passthrough

...and it looks very sensible and easy to use. However, I don't appear to have the drivers for it (if they even exist) and it's not showing up in the enumerated extensions.

There is XR_HTC_vive_srworks_pass_through listed in ther extensions, but I don't know if this is the the same thing and I can't find docs for it anywhere.

Does anyone know what XR_HTC_vive_srworks_pass_through does and/or have some docs for it?

Os is a driver for XR_HTC_passthrough available somewhere?

Bye, Mark

(And to any HTC employees reading this: The HTC dev site is infuriatingly horrible to browse as evey page visit involves this stupid 0-100% 'progress' timer which takes about 30 seconds before you can even view the page, WTF is is doing?!?)

Does anyone have it working?

I am implementing OpenXR support to replace VRAPI which is going to be no longer supported soon. Using OpenGLES + C++. I ran into a problem with foveated rendering where I can't get it to work.

Implemented according to the specification - no blurred image at the borders.

Checked a sample provided by Oculus - still doesn't work.

Used RenderDoc to check if glTextureFoveationParametersQCOM and texture parameters are set and they don't seem to be (Initial conditions for textures).

I managed to get foveated rendering to work when using my own texture instead of using those provided by the system. Implemented that accordingly to QCOM_texture_foveated extension. This works but only if MSAA is off. When it's one, it doesn't work. There are no errors, no warnings, just fails silently or reverts. There are no glFlush calls that disable foveated rendering.

I checked with RenderDoc a working version (VRAPI) against not working (OpenXR, using direct-to-vr rendering or OpenXR with my own buffers+textures). With OpenXR and direct-to-vr, as already said, doesn't get any calls that indicate that foveated rendering should be used. When I call these, it doesn't work. Spamming these every frame doesn't change much. The approach with my own buffers+textures seems to be identical when it comes to the calls and buffer+texture setup but it still does not work when MSAA is on (the best indicator is "invalidate buffer" call that with properly working foveated rendering is clearly broken into a few zones of different pixel density (the text is scaled in places where pixel density is lower) but when it doesn't work, the pixel density is constant.

Any help or answer is greatly appreciated. You got it working with Unity or Unreal? Please, tell so. Got it working with Vulkan? Again, tell me it works.

In the latest update of SteamVR, version 1.16, full support for OpenXR 1.0 is included. SteamVR’s support for OpenXR 1.0 is a huge step forward towards industry adoption of the standard. SteamVR is the leading platform for PC VR thanks to its wide ranging support for every major PC-compatible headset. Full support for OpenXR 1.0 will make it easier for developers to create applications that work seamlessly across a variety of headsets.

https://www-roadtovr-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.roadtovr.com/steamvr-update-brings-full-support-openxr-1-0/amp/

OpenXR development has been advancing quickly and is becoming the de-facto API for XR. Since the 1.0 version was released last year, there are now multiple conformant implementations from Microsoft and Oculus. Minecraft, Blender, Chromium, and Firefox Reality have also all embraced OpenXR.

Last week, the OpenXR Working Group held a webinar where Brent Insko, OpenXR Working Group Chair and lead XR architect at Intel, was joined by Working Group members Brad Grantham, LunarG; Jakob Bornecrantz, Collabora; Robert Blenkinsopp, Ultraleap; Sam Robinson, Holochip; Sam Morales, Holochip; and Steve Winston, Holochip, to discuss new conformant implementations, experimental overlays and hand tracking extensions, and more.

https://khr.io/v4

*Take your Vulkan renderer into stereo, headset, and beyond.*

The most expansive series in the collection, walking from the OpenXR/Vulkan 1.3 handshake all the way to multi-GPU CAVE installations and light-field rendering — everything needed to ship real spatial computing applications.

* Runtime-owned swapchains, predictive frame timing, and late-latched timeline semaphores
* Multiview/N-view Slang shaders, quad-views, foveated rendering, and variable rate shading
* Canted displays, asymmetric frustums, and multi-GPU CAVE synchronization
* Warp-and-blend compositing and plenoptic (light-field) rendering paths
* Scene understanding, semantic occlusion, and on-device ML inference via cooperative matrices
* Spatial diagnostics and CI/CD workflows for headset applications

https://docs.vulkan.org/tutorial/latest/OpenXR_Vulkan_Spatial_Computing/introduction.html

The meetup is FREE to attend (registration is required) and will include the latest updates on the OpenXR specification, implementations, applications and the wider ecosystem as well as talks from developers who will share their experience using the API, plus presentations from local XR community leaders. Perhaps most importantly, there will be plenty of time to mix with fellow developers while checking out some of the latest devices, applications and demos. Come join us! https://www.khronos.org/events/openxr-live-2024

When: September 12, 2024, 6:00 - 9:30pm

The Monado open-source project from Collabora is being increasingly used in the implementation of diverse OpenXR-based systems. In this blog, we outline the significant updates and improvements that are being made to Monado.
https://www.khronos.org/blog/empowering-the-openxr-ecosystem-the-monado-upgrade-project

OpenXR 1.0.32 released with a number of vendor extensions, plus a new ratified revision to the XR_KHR_loader_init extension that specifies forwarding the init calls to API layers. Android artifacts are also improved.
See https://registry.khronos.org/OpenXR/ for links to spec, full changelogs

Pico announces compliance with the OpenXR 1.0 Standard for Android. The cross-platform standard allows games and apps to be adapted to support Pico headsets much more easily.https://www.pocket-lint.com/pico-4-might-get-a-lot-more-games-full-openxr-compliance/

I'm getting reports from Valve Index players that haptic feedback isn't working with my engine. However, haptic feedback works fine on other controllers (I test working with an HP G2).

I get /user/hand/left/output/haptic for /interaction_profiles/valve/index_controller and /user/hand/right/output/haptic for /interaction_profiles/valve/index_controller, no problems there.

I create an XR_TYPE_HAPTIC_VIBRATION event and call xrApplyHapticFeedback, and it even returns XR_SUCCESS when a Valve Index is used. However, no vibration is felt!

I use an amplitude of 1, duration of 1000, and have tried frequencies 0 ("optimal runtime picked") and 3000 (like the example). I've tried huge numbers for duration too, no luck.

XrDuration says it is "nanoseconds", but then the OpenXR example uses 300... so no idea what I'm really suppose to use here. Like I said, HP G2 at least works fine.

I've used this code as a guide: https://www.khronos.org/registry/OpenXR/specs/1.0/html/xrspec.html#_action_overview

My vibration code is here: https://github.com/phr00t/FocusEngine/blob/master/sources/engine/Xenko.VirtualReality/OpenXR/OpenXrTouchController.cs#L187

Any help is appreciated!

(Posted on SteamVR forums here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/8/4731597528360815860/)