Firefox creators Mozilla have already been involved with the mission to bring virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to the web with its involvement in projects such as WebVR, WebAR and A-Frame. The company is taking that a step further with Firefox Reality.

Mozilla is working on its own mixed reality browser, which they are calling Firefox Reality. The company is aiming for it to be an open-source, cross-platform browser designed specifically for mixed reality.

According to Mozilla Chief R&D Officer, Sean White: “Here at Mozilla, it’s our mission to ensure that the Internet is an open and accessible resource that puts people first. Currently, the world can browse the open web using our fast and privacy-focused Firefox browser, but continuing that mission in a rapidly changing world means constantly investing our time and resources into new and emerging technologies – and realities.”

Firefox Reality is set to be entirely open-source. This is in order to make it easier for manufacturers to add the browser to their platform, but also allows users to get a closer look at how the browser operates, what data it captures and how it processes it. With privacy concerns for online applications very much in the public consciousness at present, this will likely provide some comfort.

White says that at the moment, mixed reality is trying to find its feet: “Mixed reality is the wild west. How do you type? How do you express emotion? How do you view the billions of existing 2D web pages as well as new 3D content? How do you communicate? Who maps the world and who controls what you see? Can we build on our work with voice recognition and connected devices to create a better browsing experience? We love tackling these questions. Everything is new again, and we are constantly building and experimenting to find the right answers.”

It isn’t currently known when Firefox Reality will launch, but Mozilla have promised updates on the progress of the new browser in the near future. VRFocus will continue to provide news as it comes in.