PositionSensorVRDevice

Deprecated: This feature is no longer recommended. Though some browsers might still support it, it may have already been removed from the relevant web standards, may be in the process of being dropped, or may only be kept for compatibility purposes. Avoid using it, and update existing code if possible; see the compatibility table at the bottom of this page to guide your decision. Be aware that this feature may cease to work at any time.

Non-standard: This feature is not standardized. We do not recommend using non-standard features in production, as they have limited browser support, and may change or be removed. However, they can be a suitable alternative in specific cases where no standard option exists.

The PositionSensorVRDevice interface of the WebVR API represents VR hardware's position sensor. You can access information such as the current position and orientation of the sensor in relation to the head mounted display through the PositionSensorVRDevice.getState() method.

Instance methods

PositionSensorVRDevice.getState()

Returns the current state of the position sensor for the current frame (e.g., within the current window.requestAnimationFrame callback) or for the previous frame, contained with a VRPose object. This is the method you'd normally want to use, versus getImmediateState().

PositionSensorVRDevice.getImmediateState()

Returns the current instantaneous position sensor state. This is intended to only be used rarely, for certain special uses, for example sampling the immediate position of a hand orientation sensor — or at least it will be, in the future.

PositionSensorVRDevice.resetSensor()

Can be used to reset the sensor if desired, returning the position and orientation values to zero.

Instance properties

This interface doesn't define any properties of its own, but it does inherit the properties of its parent interface, VRDisplay.

VRDisplay.displayId Read only

Returns the ID for this specific VRDevice. The ID shouldn't change across browser restarts, allowing configuration data to be saved based on it.

VRDisplay.displayName Read only

A human-readable name to identify the VRDevice.

Examples

The following example uses the WebVR API to update the view of a simple 2D canvas scene on each frame of a requestAnimationFrame loop.

js
function setView() {
  const posState = gPositionSensor.getState();
  if (posState.hasPosition) {
    posPara.textContent = `Position: x${roundToTwo(
      posState.position.x,
    )} y${roundToTwo(posState.position.y)} z${roundToTwo(posState.position.z)}`;
    xPos = -posState.position.x * WIDTH * 2;
    yPos = posState.position.y * HEIGHT * 2;
    zPos = -posState.position.z > 0.01 ? -posState.position.z : 0.01;
  }

  if (posState.hasOrientation) {
    orientPara.textContent = `Orientation: x${roundToTwo(
      posState.orientation.x,
    )} y${roundToTwo(posState.orientation.y)} z${roundToTwo(
      posState.orientation.z,
    )}`;
    xOrient = posState.orientation.x * WIDTH;
    yOrient = -posState.orientation.y * HEIGHT * 2;
    zOrient = posState.orientation.z * 180;
  }
}

Here we are grabbing a VRPose object using PositionSensorVRDevice.getState() and storing it in posState. We then check to make sure that position and orientation info is present in the current frame using VRPose.position and VRPose.orientation (these return null if, for example the head mounted display is turned off or not pointing at the position sensor, which would cause an error.)

We then output the x, y and z position and orientation values for informational purposes, and use those values to update the xPos, yPos, zPos, xOrient, yOrient, and zOrient variables, which are used to update the scene rendering on each frame.

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
PositionSensorVRDevice
Deprecated Non-standard
Chrome – No support
Chrome
footnote No support
Edge – No support
Edge
footnote No support
Firefox – No support
Firefox 39 (Release date: 2015-07-02)
disabled
disabled From version 39 users must explicitly set the dom.vr* preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.
Opera – No support
Opera
footnote No support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – No support
Chrome Android
footnote No support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – No support
Opera Android
footnote No support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – No support
Samsung Internet
footnote No support
WebView Android – No support
WebView Android
footnote No support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
getImmediateState
Deprecated Non-standard
Chrome – No support
Chrome
footnote No support
Edge – No support
Edge
footnote No support
Firefox – No support
Firefox 39 (Release date: 2015-07-02)
disabled
disabled From version 39 users must explicitly set the dom.vr* preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.
Opera – No support
Opera
footnote No support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – No support
Chrome Android
footnote No support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – No support
Opera Android
footnote No support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – No support
Samsung Internet
footnote No support
WebView Android – No support
WebView Android
footnote No support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
getState
Deprecated Non-standard
Chrome – No support
Chrome
footnote No support
Edge – No support
Edge
footnote No support
Firefox – No support
Firefox 39 (Release date: 2015-07-02)
disabled
disabled From version 39 users must explicitly set the dom.vr* preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.
Opera – No support
Opera
footnote No support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – No support
Chrome Android
footnote No support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – No support
Opera Android
footnote No support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – No support
Samsung Internet
footnote No support
WebView Android – No support
WebView Android
footnote No support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
resetSensor
Deprecated Non-standard
Chrome – No support
Chrome
footnote No support
Edge – No support
Edge
footnote No support
Firefox – No support
Firefox 39 (Release date: 2015-07-02)
disabled
disabled From version 39 users must explicitly set the dom.vr* preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.
Opera – No support
Opera
footnote No support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – No support
Chrome Android
footnote No support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – No support
Opera Android
footnote No support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – No support
Samsung Internet
footnote No support
WebView Android – No support
WebView Android
footnote No support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

No support
No support
Non-standard. Check cross-browser support before using.
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
User must explicitly enable this feature.

See also