Neha Patil (Editor)

A Frame (virtual reality framework)

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Original author(s)
  
Mozilla

Development status
  
Active

Developer(s)
  
A-Frame Authors

Written in
  
JavaScript

Initial release
  
December 2015; 1 year ago (2015-12)

Stable release
  
0.3.2 / October 12, 2016; 4 months ago (2016-10-12)

A-Frame is an open-source web framework for building virtual reality (VR) experiences. It is primarily maintained by Mozilla and the WebVR community. It is an entity component system framework for Three.js where developers can create 3D and WebVR scenes using HTML. HTML provides a familiar authoring tool for web developers and designers while incorporating a popular game development pattern used by engines such as Unity.

Contents

History

A-Frame was developed within the Mozilla VR team during mid-to-late 2015. The Mozilla VR team pioneered the WebVR platform and spec, but needed an easier way to create content. The original work behind A-Frame involved Diego Marcos, Josh Carpenter, Casey Yee, Chris Van Wiemeersch, and Kevin Ngo. A-Frame was created in order to allow web developers and designers to author 3D and VR experiences with HTML without having to know WebGL. A-Frame's first public release was on December 18, 2015. There are now over 75 contributors in total.

Benefits

  • 3D and VR content authoring with HTML without build steps.
  • Setup of scene with one line of HTML (<a-scene>) to handle canvas renderer, render loop, lights, controls, WebVR setup.
  • Compatibility with most existing web libraries and frameworks (React (JavaScript library), AngularJS, D3.js, Vue.js).
  • Entity component system architecture that favors composition over inheritance to define complex 3D objects using reusable components.>
  • Extensible entity-component plugin ecosystem.
  • Visual inspector tool that can be invoked in the browser from any live A-Frame scene.

    • Usage

    An entire A-Frame scene can be contained within a HTML file by including a single JavaScript file.

    Since A-Frame is based on an Entity component system pattern, under the hood, every object in a scene is an entity. Entities are general placeholder objects. Components are composable and reusable modules that can be plugged into entities in order to add appearance, behavior, and functionality. Components are written in JavaScript and can be made to do anything, and then expose a declarative API through HTML. Here is an example of including a couple of community components for particle systems and physics via external scripts, and then being used from HTML.

    Selected Uses and Works

    A-Frame is being used for a variety of applications and purposes. The following lists identify selected uses and works.

  • Fear of the Sky (360 Syria), 2016, Amnesty International UK.
  • Journey to Mars, 2016, The Washington Post.
  • iStaging LiveTour, 2016, iStaging.
  • A-Painter, 2016, Mozilla.
  • Shopify VR, 2016, Shopify.
  • Stand at the Edge of Geologic Time, 2016, NPR.
  • Guri VR, 2016, The New York Times.

    • Community

    All online IDEs support A-Frame as a result of being based on HTML. Documentation is available for the API. Support for developers committing to the library is provided via GitHub issues, while support for developers building apps and web pages is provided via StackOverflow. Real-time on-line support is provided using Slack (software). Most of the developers are also on Twitter.

    References

    A-Frame (virtual reality framework) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA