Virtual reality and 360-degree video streaming company Visbit Inc. announced today that it is opening up its platform to developers.

The company released a software development kit for the Unity mobile engine and a web-based virtual reality player capable of video streaming in 4K resolution or higher. Using Visibit’s platform, content creators and publishers may now access high-quality VR streaming technology across all mobile platforms, including Google Daydream View and Cardboard for iOS, as well as most major mobile and desktop browsers.

“Unity support has been a long-time request from our customers,” said Dr. Changyin Zhou, Visbit’s co-founder and chief executive officer.

Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies. While it is primarily used as a game engine, its capabilities on mobile and desktop make it well-suited for virtual user interfaces. As a result, many VR developers look to Unity’s framework as a tried and true ecosystem that has addressed the challenges of interacting in 3-D spaces for years.

In particular, Unity stands out when developing Android apps for Google Cardboard because it can draw on Visibit’s patented view-optimized streaming technology. Using VVOS high-quality 360-degree video can be streamed with reduced bandwidth by only rendering those portions of the view that the user is currently focusing on, using a technique called foveated rendering. The company has been putting this capability to the test since April, when Visibit announced the open beta of its high-quality VR streaming service.

Visibit’s integration with Unity covers developer interests, but according to Zhou, this announcement also includes a gift to content creators and publishers. “We’re also adding the Web VR Player, which dramatically reduces the difficulties of distribution and improves access for general consumers of VR and 360-degree experiences,” he said.

In what the company calls a significant expansion of the service, Visibit now also allows content creators to generate a web link on the Publisher Portal to share work or embed videos on any website. Videos published in this manner also enjoy the protection of domain-level privacy to ensure that videos can be viewed only where the publisher wants.

Although the VR web player does not use VVOS, it is still capable of smooth playback of 360-degree VR videos on mobile, even in 4K or stereoscopic. It can even do so in high-quality using panning and gyro modes — where a tablet or mobile device can detect tilt and motion, making the screen a “window” into the VR content — on Chrome, Safari, FireFox and Microsoft Edge.

The company has also announced a new pricing structure for its VR streaming service, which includes a web-only plan for content distributors without the need for advanced features and a free plan for developers looking to get started on the platform.

Image: Visibit