Virtual Reality
This Wiki Article is under construction. Information may be incomplete
Virtual Reality (VR) is the process of creating a virtual, immersive experience for the user. This is achieved usually by a head-mounted display (HMD) which simulates a 3-dimensional vision by having a different display for each eye. An HMD usually features rotation as well as full movement tracking. With many VR solutions, motion controllers exist to provide an immersive way of input.
Many VR peripherals have been released, with very few featuring official Linux support and some having third-party Linux support (see compatibility chart below).
VR standards
OpenXR
OpenXR is an open standard for Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality maintained by the Khronos Group.
OpenVR
OpenVR is a de-facto standard for Virtual Reality maintained by Valve Corporation. It is used by most games and a great number of applications. Currently SteamVR provided by Steam is the only fully working implementation of OpenVR.
OSVR
OSVR was a joint effort by Sensics Inc and Razer to create an open API for VR. It is mostly abandoned, yet some applications rely on OSVR for virtual reality
VR hardware
This is an overview of the support status of VR hardware. Official support means that Linux support is done by the manufacturer and not by a third party project.
| Device | Supported | Official Support | Rotation | Position | Controller | OpenVR | OpenXR | OSVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HTC Vive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (via SteamVR) | No |
| Valve Index | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (via SteamVR) | No |
| HTC Vive Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (via SteamVR) | No |
| HTC Vive Pro 2 | Yes | Third-party SteamVR driver available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (via SteamVR) | No |
| Oculus Rift DK1 | Yes | Third-party support through OpenHMD | Yes | n/a | Yes | Yes | Yes (via OpenHMD) | Yes (via OSVR-OpenHMD) |
| Oculus Rift DK2 | Partial | Third-party support through OpenHMD | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (via OpenHMD) | Yes (via OSVR-OpenHMD) |
| Oculus Rift CV1 | Partial | Third-party support through OpenHMD | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (via OpenHMD) | No |
| Playstation VR | Partial | Third-party support through OpenHMD | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (via OpenHMD) | No |
| Oculus Quest | Yes | Third-party support through ALVR | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Experimental through ALXR | No |
| Oculus/Meta Quest 2 | Yes | Third-party support through ALVR | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Experimental through ALXR | No |
| OSVR HDK | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | n/a | Yes | No | Yes |
| OSVR HDK2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | n/a | Yes | No | Yes |
| Windows Mixed Reality Headsets (like HP Reverb) | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No
} |