VRDisplay: getFrameData() method

The getFrameData() method of the VRDisplay interface accepts a VRFrameData object and populates it with the information required to render the current frame.

[!NOTE] This method was part of the old WebVR API. It has been superseded by the WebXR Device API.

This includes the VRPose and view and projection matrices for the current frame.

Syntax

getFrameData(frameData)

Parameters

• frameData
  • : The VRFrameData object you want to populate.

Return value

A boolean value — a value of true is returned if the VRFrameData object was successfully populated, or false if it wasn’t.

Examples

const frameData = new VRFrameData();
let vrDisplay;

navigator.getVRDisplays().then((displays) => {
  vrDisplay = displays[0];
  console.log("Display found");
  // Starting the presentation when the button is clicked: It can only be called in response to a user gesture
  btn.addEventListener("click", () => {
    vrDisplay.requestPresent([{ source: canvas }]).then(() => {
      drawVRScene();
    });
  });
});

// WebVR: Draw the scene for the WebVR display.
function drawVRScene() {
  // WebVR: Request the next frame of the animation
  vrSceneFrame = vrDisplay.requestAnimationFrame(drawVRScene);

  // Populate frameData with the data of the next frame to display
  vrDisplay.getFrameData(frameData);

  // You can get the position, orientation, etc. of the display from the current frame's pose
  // curFramePose is a VRPose object
  const curFramePose = frameData.pose;
  const curPos = curFramePose.position;
  const curOrient = curFramePose.orientation;

  // Clear the canvas before we start drawing on it.

  gl.clear(gl.COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | gl.DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT);

  // WebVR: Create the required projection and view matrix locations needed
  // for passing into the uniformMatrix4fv methods below

  const projectionMatrixLocation = gl.getUniformLocation(
    shaderProgram,
    "projMatrix",
  );
  const viewMatrixLocation = gl.getUniformLocation(shaderProgram, "viewMatrix");

  // WebVR: Render the left eye's view to the left half of the canvas
  gl.viewport(0, 0, canvas.width * 0.5, canvas.height);
  gl.uniformMatrix4fv(
    projectionMatrixLocation,
    false,
    frameData.leftProjectionMatrix,
  );
  gl.uniformMatrix4fv(viewMatrixLocation, false, frameData.leftViewMatrix);
  drawGeometry();

  // WebVR: Render the right eye's view to the right half of the canvas
  gl.viewport(canvas.width * 0.5, 0, canvas.width * 0.5, canvas.height);
  gl.uniformMatrix4fv(
    projectionMatrixLocation,
    false,
    frameData.rightProjectionMatrix,
  );
  gl.uniformMatrix4fv(viewMatrixLocation, false, frameData.rightViewMatrix);
  drawGeometry();

  function drawGeometry() {
    // draw the view for each eye
  }

  // …

  // WebVR: Indicate that we are ready to present the rendered frame to the VR display
  vrDisplay.submitFrame();
}

[!NOTE] You can see this complete code at raw-webgl-example.

Specifications

This method was part of the old WebVR API that has been superseded by the WebXR Device API. It is no longer on track to becoming a standard.

Until all browsers have implemented the new WebXR APIs, it is recommended to rely on frameworks, like A-Frame, Babylon.js, or Three.js, or a polyfill, to develop WebXR applications that will work across all browsers. Read Meta’s Porting from WebVR to WebXR guide for more information.

Browser compatibility

See also

• WebVR API