Google & Pico Adoption Further Cements OpenXR as Industry Standard, With One Major Holdout

OpenXR has emerged as an open standard aimed at enhancing compatibility between XR software and XR headsets. Google, a tech giant, has promptly embraced the standard, joining other major players like Meta and Microsoft. The support from additional companies, such as ByteDance, further solidifies OpenXR as an industry standard. However, Apple remains a notable holdout in adopting OpenXR.

Introduced in 2017, OpenXR simplifies the development of XR applications that can function across various XR headsets with minimal adjustments. While leading companies like Meta, Microsoft, Valve, and HTC endorse OpenXR, Apple stands out for not supporting the standard, reflecting its tendency to follow its own path rather than industry norms.

Apple’s Vision Pro lacks OpenXR support and does not include built-in compatibility for motion-tracked controllers, essential for most existing XR content. By incorporating OpenXR, developers could efficiently bring their XR apps to Vision Pro, although the absence of controllers remains a significant obstacle.

Google quickly confirmed that its new Android XR platform will integrate OpenXR, facilitating the porting of XR content developed for headsets like Quest. Android XR is already compatible with OpenXR 1.1, and Google has introduced ‘vendor extensions’ to enhance OpenXR capabilities on specific devices.

Pico, a division of ByteDance, announced that its runtime now adheres to the OpenXR 1.1 standard on Pico 4 Ultra, with plans to extend support to Pico 4 and Neo 3 by mid-2025. Pico also proposes a framework for standardizing the simultaneous operation of multiple XR applications in a shared space, advocating for this concept within the OpenXR working group.

With endorsements from Google and Pico, OpenXR has solidified its status as an industry standard, despite Apple’s reluctance to adopt it.