Mozilla has announced that its relinquishing its VR Browser, Firefox Reality, to another team that plans to relaunch it under a new name. The company made the announcement on Thursday in a blog post, stating that the virtual and augmented reality web browser “will continue under Igalia where they will uphold the same principles we started with when we created Firefox Reality.”
Launched in April 2018, Firefox Reality allowed users to access the web through standalone virtual reality and augmented reality headsets, and is currently available in the Meta Quest (formerly Oculus Quest) headset, HTC’s Viveport platform, and the Pico standalone VR headset, as well as Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed reality headset.
While you’re on Firefox browser, you can visit standard URLs, perform searches, and ultimately move between 2D websites and immersive web experiences.
Per Mozilla,
“Firefox Reality offered users a unique browser in the mixed reality space. It was the first cross-platform browser built by a trusted company, Mozilla, and quickly adopted by companies for use in their hardware devices.”
The acquisition company, Igalia, had earlier worked with Mozilla to contribute to the WebKit and Chromium open-source projects. The Internet company is certain the team at Igalia will build on the legacy of Firefox Reality and “look forward to good things to come from it.”
Moving forward, Mozilla has said that Firefox Reality’s source code would continue to be used in Igalia’s upcoming VR browser Wolvic (the new name), which it would use as its base.
What you should expect
Mozilla plans to take down Firefox Reality from the VR app stores over the next couple of weeks. Wolvic, on the other hand, will be available for download next week. The version of Wolvic that will be available next week will still be in “beta”, however, as Igalia will still be transitioning some of the features provided by Mozilla.
