For virtual reality (VR) to be truly successful it not only needs decent affordable hardware, there needs to be plenty of content for consumers to immerse themselves in. Whilst that is certainly happening, with more developers coming on board at a regular pace, there still needs to be a much greater influx. Web-based development platform Rodin aims to make that a reality by making VR and augmented reality (AR) creation easier for the millions of web developers across the world.

While AR content creation is becoming easier thanks to software such as ARKit and ARCore, VR development can be complicated, time consuming and expensive. Based on webVR and webAR, with Rodin any developer who knows about JavaScript will be able to use the web platform to build immersive experiences.

Rodin wants to make this process as straight forward as possible so it’s created easy to use templates that feature animations, gamepad buttons, particles and much more. Developers will also have access to additional modules – some free some paid for – that can be used in projects for different tasks. Currently there’s a Socket Connection module can enable creators to send and receive data streams between the active users of their experience.

It’s also platform agnostic, so there’s no need for complicated ports between different head-mounted displays (HMDs). Users can generate apps for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, iOS, Android and the web. Rodin can be run from Chrome, Safari, Firefox on Mac/PC and mobiles.

Currently in beta, Rodin is free for anyone to try. When version 0.1 becomes available there will be payment options to access more features but the free tier will still be available. With v0.1 webAR with Chrome/Safari browsers on iPhone 8 and on Hololens and Windows MR will be supported, more templates will become available, and support for Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream and PlayStation VR will be implemented.

Head on over to the Rodin website to try it for yourself. For any further updates on the platform keep reading VRFocus.