Matterport Support for WebVR Helps Bring Virtual Reality to the Browser
Immersive Media Leader Teams with Google to Demonstrate Matterport's 300,000 Real-World Spaces in VR via Chrome
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — February 1, 2017 — Immersive media platform company Matterport today announced support for WebVR on Daydream-ready phones. With Google’s rollout of a browser with native WebVR support, VR users will now be able to load VR experiences directly in their Chrome browser on their Daydream-ready phones without having to first download a VR app.
Over time WebVR is expected to take hold and proliferate across devices and platforms. Given the maturity and ubiquity of web technology, the expansion of WebVR should also mean accelerated adoption of VR technology.
Matterport is one of the launch partners to work with Google in rolling out a WebVR experience which has been released with Chrome 56 as an origin trial. "At Matterport, we want to make it very easy for our customers to create VR content, for our partners to distribute this VR content and for users to consume VR content," said Bill Brown, CEO of Matterport. "WebVR support helps to make VR simple, immediate and accessible."
With WebVR, users no longer need to download any apps to move from a web experience to a VR experience. For those with a Daydream-ready phone, experiencing VR means they simply tap the VR icon in a Matterport 3D Showcase in their Chrome browser, slip their phone into a Daydream View, and start exploring.
“WebVR makes discovering virtual reality experiences as easy as clicking a link," said Megan Lindsay, Google Product Manager for WebVR. "Matterport’s WebVR integration lets Daydream users with Chrome explore places all over the world from anywhere.”
Matterport made waves last year when it announced CoreVR, allowing customers to automatically enable any of its 3D tours to be experienced in VR. This move gave Matterport the distinction of having by far the largest VR library of real world spaces. Customers such as Sotheby’s International Realty, who have been using Matterport, are seeing the benefits of WebVR. "WebVR will become a catalyst for VR content, and Google’s Chrome is the first to support WebVR natively in a production version," said John Passerini, Global VP Interactive Marketing at Sotheby's International Realty. "By enabling Sotheby's International Realty listings in WebVR using Matterport’s technology, we will continue to stay at the forefront of cutting edge technology."
Customers like Mansion Global, a luxury real estate portal and publisher, see the benefits of this roll out. "WebVR will bring the power of the linked web to VR content," said Mae Cheng, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief at Mansion Global. "Mansion Global wants to make it easy for readers to experience listings first-hand, and the combination of WebVR and Matterport goes a long way to doing that. We are excited to offer Matterport WebVR on our site to prospective property buyers and readers."
To view Matterport VR Spaces with WebVR, you need:
A Daydream-ready phone with the latest version of Chrome. See compatible phones on Google’s Daydream website.
A Daydream View VR headset by Google. Learn more and purchase on Google’s Daydream website.
Support for additional browsers and platforms will be added soon.
Further details on Google's announcement are available here.
Further details on experiencing Matterport VR are available here.
About Matterport
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, Matterport is an immersive media technology company that delivers an end-to-end system for creating, modifying, distributing, and navigating immersive 3D and virtual reality (VR) versions of real-world spaces on Web, mobile devices, and VR headsets. The Matterport Pro Camera and Cloud Services make it quick and easy to turn real-world places into immersive virtual experiences. To learn more, visit matterport.com, the Matterport Community or visit us on social media: