LunarG announces the release of an open source implementation of the experimental XR_EXTX_overlay extension, introduced in OpenXR 1.0.8.
An overlay composition layer can add a rich variety of content into other XR applications. Examples of overlay applications include desktop OS windows in-world, in-game heads up display (HUD), virtual keyboard, and chat.
Work continues on the implementation with the goal of running many applications at the same time. Support for all the functions in the OpenXR core specification is planned for a later release. Please refer to this document for the following information:
- Brief introduction to overlays
- Description of the LunarG project
- Current limitations of this release
- Links to the GitHub repository, to report bugs and issues, to request additional information
Pluto VR, LunarG’s sponsor for this project, has developed an application called Pluto, which is designed to provide chat functionality on top of other applications. Pluto is a communications service that runs alongside all of your favorite VR applications.
“This is one of the first OpenXR extensions built upon the solid foundation provided by OpenXR 1.0. This progression of the specification is an exciting milestone and it represents an opportunity to experiment with a multi-app multitasking future of OpenXR. We are excited to offer this contribution to open source for other developers to experiment and extend their capabilities, pushing the VR and AR industry towards the future.” said Jared Cheshier, CTO at Pluto VR.
We hope this release will allow experimentation with the extension in the AR/VR community. We encourage suggestions and feedback!
LunarG’s software engineering experts create innovative products and services for open source and commercial customers using leading-edge 3D graphics and compute technologies, including Vulkan, SPIR-V, OpenXR, and OpenGL. We have strengths in performance analysis and tuning, runtime and ecosystem tools development, shader optimizations, driver development, and porting engines and applications to Vulkan.
For more information about LunarG, please check out our website.
