Collabora's developers recently announced the release of Monado 21.0.0 , an open-source implementation of the OpenXR standard. Developed by the Khronos consortium, the OpenXR standard defines a universal API for creating virtual and augmented reality applications, as well as a set of intermediate layers for interacting with equipment that abstracts the characteristics of specific devices.
Monado provides a fully OpenXR-compatible runtime that can be used to run virtual and augmented reality on smartphones, tablets, PCs, and any other device. The project code is written in C and distributed under the free software license Boost 1.0, which is GPL-compliant.
Among the key features:
- Controller for HDK (OSVR Hacker Developer Kit) and PlayStation VR HMD helmets, as well as Vive Wand, Valve Index, PlayStation Move and Razor Hydra controllers.
- Ability to use hardware compatible with the OpenHMD project.
- Driver for North Star augmented reality glasses.
- Driver for the Intel RealSense T265 Position Tracking System.
- A set of udev rules to configure non-root access to virtual reality devices.
- Motion tracking components with a video filtering and streaming frame.
- Character tracking system with six degrees of freedom (6DoF, forward / backward, up / down, left / right, yaw, pitch, roll) for PSVR and PS Move controllers.
- Modules for integration with the Vulkan and OpenGL graphics APIs.
- Screenless mode (headless).
- Spatial interaction and management of viewpoints.
- Basic support for frame synchronization and information input (actions).
- A ready-to-use composite server that supports direct output to the device, bypassing the X-system server. Shaders are provided for Vive and Panotools.
Main news of Monado 21.0.0
Monado 21.0.0 was the first version to officially comply with the OpenXR 1.0 standard . The Khronos consortium has performed compatibility testing and added Monado to the list of officially supported OpenXR implementations.
Testing is done with the OpenGL graphics APIs and Vulkan APIs, using a desktop build in virtual reality device simulation mode. Initially, it was planned to assign the version number 1.0, but the developers decided to use the numbering using the year, by analogy with the numbering of the Mesa versions.
We are pleased to announce that Monado now provides an officially compliant OpenXR implementation. The official list of OpenXR 1.0 compliant implementations now includes Monado, based on running the OpenXR conformance test suite on a "dummy" device.
Note that the OpenXR 1.0 compliance status applies only to the simulated device. Anyone building a product using Monado with non-simulated hardware must still go through the full and normal adoption and compliance process for that product to claim OpenXR compliance and reap the benefits.
The second major innovation was the development of a controller for the SteamVR platform , including a state tracker and a SteamVR plugin generator. This allows the use of any headset controller (HMD) and controllers created for Monado with SteamVR. For example, Monado provides controllers for OpenHMD VR headsets, Panotools (PSVR), and Vive/Vive Pro/Valve Index.
Regarding version handling, the developers mention that this first release version is adequate and they have moved away from the pre-release series 0.XY
This first officially compliant version is known as 21.0.0, instead of 1.0.0. Common SemVer conventions primarily address API stability. However, since the only public API for Monado is through the externally maintained OpenXR specification, a standard SemVer number for Monado would remain in major version 1 for a long time despite advances in the project.
Instead, we decided to follow the version control model of the FreeDesktop.org project, Mesa: a hybrid of SemVer and date-based version control.
Finally, if you're interested in learning more about this new version, you can find the details at the following link.