Monado OpenXR Runtime Now Supports Multi-Application Rendering / Overlays

The Monado open-source OpenXR runtime has seen a lot of features added this year and the most recent is support for OpenXR's XR_EXTX_overlay extension to allow for multi-application / overlay rendering.

The XR_EXTX_overlay extension from LunarG, Epic Games, and Pluto VR is for allowing contents of separate OpenXR applications to be composited on top of the main OpenXR application. Some of the intended use-cases for this OpenXR overlay extension is for debug environments that may want to render metrics on top of the main window, showing a heads-up display (HUD), and exposing other panels on top of the main window/application being rendered. The extra applications are rendered in a separate process and then composited on top of the main application.

In the video below, Monado is running Blender with xrgears composited on top by making use of this new functionality.

More details on this open-source OpenXR runtime work via Collabora's blog.