Popular Libraries to Build Extended Reality (XR) Applications

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by Ashok Balasubramanian dot icon Updated: Apr 4, 2022

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With Facebook rebranding itself as Meta and multiple corporations betting on the Metaverse, the interest for development on Metaverse and Extended Reality (XR) have peaked. And it’s no surprise: XR technologies are changing the way we interact with our environment while offering immersive experiences. But what is Extended Reality (XR)? Extended Reality (XR) is an environment or experience that combines virtual and physical realities through the use of augmented reality (AR), mixed reality, virtual reality (VR) or any similar immersive technologies. Think Pokemon Go or The Walking Dead: Our World — games that combine your phone’s camera with a layer of 3D animated objects superimposed on top of it. Or imagine being able to virtually open up a virtual world inside of real-world buildings, like in Ready Player One. Whether you’re new to XR and just starting out, or you’re looking for specific tools to help you in your development process, you can use the following open source resources for your Extended Reality (XR) applications.

three.jsby mrdoob

JavaScript doticonstar image 92637 doticonVersion:r153doticon
License: Permissive (MIT)

JavaScript 3D Library.

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            three.jsby mrdoob

            JavaScript doticon star image 92637 doticonVersion:r153doticon License: Permissive (MIT)

            JavaScript 3D Library.
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                      aframeby aframevr

                      JavaScript doticonstar image 15445 doticonVersion:v1.4.2doticon
                      License: Permissive (MIT)

                      :a: Web framework for building virtual reality experiences.

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                                aframeby aframevr

                                JavaScript doticon star image 15445 doticonVersion:v1.4.2doticon License: Permissive (MIT)

                                :a: Web framework for building virtual reality experiences.
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                                          bullet3by bulletphysics

                                          C++ doticonstar image 10771 doticonVersion:3.25doticon
                                          License: Others (Non-SPDX)

                                          Bullet Physics SDK: real-time collision detection and multi-physics simulation for VR, games, visual effects, robotics, machine learning etc.

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                                                    bullet3by bulletphysics

                                                    C++ doticon star image 10771 doticonVersion:3.25doticon License: Others (Non-SPDX)

                                                    Bullet Physics SDK: real-time collision detection and multi-physics simulation for VR, games, visual effects, robotics, machine learning etc.
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                                                              react-360by facebookarchive

                                                              JavaScript doticonstar image 8680 doticonVersion:r360-1.0.1doticon
                                                              License: Others (Non-SPDX)

                                                              Create amazing 360 and VR content using React

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                                                                        react-360by facebookarchive

                                                                        JavaScript doticon star image 8680 doticonVersion:r360-1.0.1doticon License: Others (Non-SPDX)

                                                                        Create amazing 360 and VR content using React
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                                                                                  pannellumby mpetroff

                                                                                  JavaScript doticonstar image 3813 doticonVersion:2.5.6doticon
                                                                                  License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                  Pannellum is a lightweight, free, and open source panorama viewer for the web.

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                                                                                            pannellumby mpetroff

                                                                                            JavaScript doticon star image 3813 doticonVersion:2.5.6doticon License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                            Pannellum is a lightweight, free, and open source panorama viewer for the web.
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                                                                                                      viroby viromedia

                                                                                                      JavaScript doticonstar image 2067 doticonVersion:Currentdoticon
                                                                                                      License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                                      ViroReact: AR and VR using React Native

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                                                                                                                viroby viromedia

                                                                                                                JavaScript doticon star image 2067 doticonVersion:Currentdoticon License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                                                ViroReact: AR and VR using React Native
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                                                                                                                          react-xrby pmndrs

                                                                                                                          TypeScript doticonstar image 1587 doticonVersion:v5.5.0doticon
                                                                                                                          License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                                                          🤳 VR/AR with react-three-fiber

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                                                                                                                                    react-xrby pmndrs

                                                                                                                                    TypeScript doticon star image 1587 doticonVersion:v5.5.0doticon License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                                                                    🤳 VR/AR with react-three-fiber
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                                                                                                                                              XR-Interaction-Toolkit-Examplesby Unity-Technologies

                                                                                                                                              C# doticonstar image 805 doticonVersion:Currentdoticon
                                                                                                                                              License: Others (Non-SPDX)

                                                                                                                                              This repository contains various examples to use with the XR Interaction Toolkit

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                                                                                                                                                        XR-Interaction-Toolkit-Examplesby Unity-Technologies

                                                                                                                                                        C# doticon star image 805 doticonVersion:Currentdoticon License: Others (Non-SPDX)

                                                                                                                                                        This repository contains various examples to use with the XR Interaction Toolkit
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                                                                                                                                                                  OpenXR-SDKby KhronosGroup

                                                                                                                                                                  C++ doticonstar image 642 doticonVersion:release-1.0.27doticon
                                                                                                                                                                  License: Permissive (Apache-2.0)

                                                                                                                                                                  Generated headers and sources for OpenXR loader.

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                                                                                                                                                                            OpenXR-SDKby KhronosGroup

                                                                                                                                                                            C++ doticon star image 642 doticonVersion:release-1.0.27doticon License: Permissive (Apache-2.0)

                                                                                                                                                                            Generated headers and sources for OpenXR loader.
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                                                                                                                                                                                      OpenXR-SDK-Sourceby KhronosGroup

                                                                                                                                                                                      Python doticonstar image 506 doticonVersion:release-1.0.27doticon
                                                                                                                                                                                      License: Permissive (Apache-2.0)

                                                                                                                                                                                      Sources for OpenXR loader, basic API layers, and example code.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                OpenXR-SDK-Sourceby KhronosGroup

                                                                                                                                                                                                Python doticon star image 506 doticonVersion:release-1.0.27doticon License: Permissive (Apache-2.0)

                                                                                                                                                                                                Sources for OpenXR loader, basic API layers, and example code.
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                                                                                                                                                                                                          C++ doticonstar image 292 doticonVersion:113.2304.14003doticon
                                                                                                                                                                                                          License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                                                                                                                                          OpenXR samples and preview headers for HoloLens and Windows Mixed Reality developers familiar with Visual Studio

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                    OpenXR-MixedRealityby microsoft

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    C++ doticon star image 292 doticonVersion:113.2304.14003doticon License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    OpenXR samples and preview headers for HoloLens and Windows Mixed Reality developers familiar with Visual Studio
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                              C# doticonstar image 240 doticonVersion:v1.19.0doticon
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              License: Permissive (Apache-2.0)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Google Cardboard XR Plugin for Unity

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        cardboard-xr-pluginby googlevr

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        C# doticon star image 240 doticonVersion:v1.19.0doticon License: Permissive (Apache-2.0)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Google Cardboard XR Plugin for Unity
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  unity-xr-pluginby ValveSoftware

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  C# doticonstar image 266 doticonVersion:v1.1.5bdoticon
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  License: Permissive (BSD-3-Clause)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  OpenVR plugin for Unity's XR API

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            unity-xr-pluginby ValveSoftware

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            C# doticon star image 266 doticonVersion:v1.1.5bdoticon License: Permissive (BSD-3-Clause)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            OpenVR plugin for Unity's XR API
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      DxRby ronellsicat

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      C# doticonstar image 191 doticonVersion:Currentdoticon
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      DXR is a Unity package for rapid prototyping of immersive data visualizations in augmented, mixed, and virtual reality (AR, MR, VR) or XR for short.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                DxRby ronellsicat

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                C# doticon star image 191 doticonVersion:Currentdoticon License: Permissive (MIT)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                DXR is a Unity package for rapid prototyping of immersive data visualizations in augmented, mixed, and virtual reality (AR, MR, VR) or XR for short.
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          xr3ngineby xr3ngine

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          TypeScript doticonstar image 108 doticonVersion:rc-0.0.2.2doticon
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          License: Others (Non-SPDX)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          An end-to-end solution for hosting humans and AI in a virtual space, built on top of react, three.js and express/feathers. This repo includes a fully-feature client, API server, realtime gamerserver, game engine and devops for scalable deployment. Pick and choose what you need or deploy the whole stack and start building your application on top.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    xr3ngineby xr3ngine

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    TypeScript doticon star image 108 doticonVersion:rc-0.0.2.2doticon License: Others (Non-SPDX)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    An end-to-end solution for hosting humans and AI in a virtual space, built on top of react, three.js and express/feathers. This repo includes a fully-feature client, API server, realtime gamerserver, game engine and devops for scalable deployment. Pick and choose what you need or deploy the whole stack and start building your application on top.
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              XRAutomatedTestsby Unity-Technologies

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              C# doticonstar image 83 doticonVersion:2018.1_0.1.3doticon
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              no licences License: No License (null)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              XRAutomatedTests is where you can find functional, graphics, performance, and other types of automated tests for your XR Unity development.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        XRAutomatedTestsby Unity-Technologies

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        C# doticon star image 83 doticonVersion:2018.1_0.1.3doticonno licences License: No License

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        XRAutomatedTests is where you can find functional, graphics, performance, and other types of automated tests for your XR Unity development.
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