v0.24.0: Additive Display Simulation for VST Devices, DepthMesh Performance, WebGPU Lighting & Netblocks Upgrades

XR Blocks v0.24.0 Release Notes

We are excited to announce XR Blocks 0.24.0, introducing additive display simulation for VST devices, high-performance DepthMesh raycasting, WebGPU lighting estimation, standalone and unreliable data channels for Netblocks, updated AI models, and TypeScript declaration improvements.

Highlights

• Additive Display Simulation for VST devices: Added support for simulating optical see-through displays on video see-through (VST) headsets, including an opt-in additive display simulation (simulateAdditiveDisplay) with adjustable dimming, a high-contrast UI theme preset (highContrast), and configurable simulator diagonal FOV settings.
• DepthMesh Raycasting Performance: Accelerated ray intersection tests against DepthMesh using 2D projective grid traversal, delivering much faster controller raycasting and reticle positioning against scene depth.
• WebGPU Lighting Support: Extended THREE.WebGPURenderer support to Lighting estimation and directional lighting rigs, along with restored WebGPU UI panel clipping and material parity.
• Netblocks Multiplayer Enhancements: Decoupled Netblocks byte transports from Three.js for standalone use, added optional negotiated unreliable data channels for real-time state streaming, and improved peer recovery.
• Input & Interaction Refinements: Improved transient-pointer completion for pinch-to-click gestures (such as Apple Vision Pro style interactions), refined pinch filtering for hand tracking, and added explicit UI zoom controls.
• AI Models & Dependency Updates: Updated default AI models across the SDK (Gemini Live to 3.8-live, Gemini Image to nano-banana-2.1, and OpenAI to gpt-6-luna), and upgraded @sparkjsdev/spark to 2.2.0.
• TypeScript & Developer Experience: Resolved published SDK TypeScript declarations so external consumers can build without repository path aliases, and added script initialization failure logging.

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What's Changed

• feat(simulator): add mode-adapted idle overlay instructions by @dli7319 in #703
• fix(simulator): hide hand pose panel until hands are shown by @dli7319 in #704
• perf(depth): optimize DepthMesh updates, stereo depth extraction, and OcclusionPass by @dli7319 in #705
• fix(input): only apply PinchFilter to hand input by @salmanmkc in #708
• refactor(netblocks): decouple byte transports from three.js by @salmanmkc in #712
• fix(input): complete transient-pointer clicks released between frames by @salmanmkc in #706
• feat(input): support addon controller cleanup and explicit UI zoom by @salmanmkc in #711
• feat(netblocks): add optional unreliable data channels by @salmanmkc in #716
• fix(simulator): dispose day/night sun shadow resources by @salmanmkc in #718
• docs: correct WebGPU and project setup guidance by @salmanmkc in #717
• fix: resolve published TypeScript declarations without repo aliases by @salmanmkc in #719
• feat(ui): add additive see-through display support by @salmanmkc in #709
• fix(ui): restore WebGPU panel clipping and material parity by @salmanmkc in #724
• fix(core): log script initialization failures by @salmanmkc in #729
• fix(ui): correct alpha-hex brightness in UIKit by @salmanmkc in #727
• fix(depth): read right-eye GPU depth in stereo by @salmanmkc in #726
• perf(depth): use 2D projective grid traversal in DepthMesh.raycast() by @dli7319 in #715
• fix(deps): align dependencies with airlock and pin uikit by @dli7319 in #732
• feat(lighting): add WebGPU support to Lighting by @dli7319 in #733
• chore(deps): update @sparkjsdev/spark to 2.2.0 by @dli7319 in #734
• feat(netblocks): add negotiated unreliable channels and opt-in recovery by @salmanmkc in #720
• chore(ai): update default Gemini live model to 3.8-live by @salmanmkc in #735
• chore(ai): update default OpenAI model to gpt-6-luna by @salmanmkc in #739
• chore(ai): update default Gemini image model to nano-banana-2.1 by @salmanmkc in #738
• chore: align stale CDN pins in webcam_gestures and face_mirror by @salmanmkc in #740
• fix(demos): port the diet helper to current sdk apis by @salmanmkc in #743
• fix(demos): use the SDK default Gemini model in diet helper by @salmanmkc in #736
• chore: bump to 0.24.0 by @dli7319 in #745

Full Changelog: v0.23.0...v0.24.0