Google adds WebVR and VR Shell to beta and dev versions of Chrome on Android, potentially allowing all websites to be viewed in VR
Google is working to add fully immersive browsing capability to Chrome, allowing users to browse any part of the web in VR, not just those sites that are specially built for VR.
Context & Ripple Effects
This move puts WebVR and a VR Shell into Chrome's beta and dev channels on Android, which changes the premise of VR on the web: instead of only sites purpose-built for VR being viewable in a headset, any page can be rendered immersively. The related coverage shows Google building out that bet step by step — adding WebVR support for the Daydream headset in Chrome for Android, launching a WebVR content hub with Cardboard support, and eventually shipping a full Chrome browser on Daydream with voice search and a cinema mode for web video.
First-order effects
- Android users running Chrome beta or dev can immediately test immersive viewing of ordinary websites through VR Shell, no special build required by the site.
- Web developers gain an early channel to expose their existing pages to headset users, ahead of any stable-release rollout.
Second-order effects
- Google's own headsets become the beneficiaries: Daydream and Cardboard get a browsing pipeline fed by the entire web rather than a thin catalog of native VR apps, which the later Daydream Chrome launch formalizes.
- Other mobile browser makers face pressure to implement WebVR or cede headset-era browsing to Chrome, since the default Android browser would be the one that works in VR.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the browser rather than the app store becomes the distribution layer for VR content, letting any website reach headset users and shifting VR discovery toward search and the open web.
The trend: The browser is becoming the universal runtime for VR content, with Google using Chrome on Android to pull the whole web into its headset ecosystem.