Facebook-owned Oculus has unveiled a toolkit, Passthrough API Experimental, that will make it relatively easy to "seamlessly" merge virtual reality (VR) with the real world view from Quest 2's cameras.
With this, users can project images on flat surfaces, create composite layers that float in space and even apply visual styles (akin to social media filters) to real scenes.
They can give themselves a virtual monitor to use with a real-world keyboard, for instance, or turn home into a psychedelic dreamscape by flicking a virtual switch, reports Engadget.
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Privacy shouldn't be an issue, Oculus claimed.
The API only processes raw camera footage on-device and apps can't access, store or view imagery of the world around you. A rogue app shouldn't transmit video of your home, to put it another way, the report said.
Oculus expects to deliver the framework to Unity engine developers with its next software development kit release.
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It will take a while for finished apps to surface, but don't be surprised if mixed reality games and productivity tools become relatively commonplace as a result of Oculus' new tools.
