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Show HN: Understanding the Spatial Web Browser Engine

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Understanding the Spatial Web Browser Engine ​

1. What Is a Spatial Web Browser? ​

A Spatial Web Browser is a user agent that loads, interprets, and presents Web content (HTML, CSS, JS, WebGL/WebGPU, WebXR, media) directly inside a 3D coordinate space instead of flattening everything onto a 2D rectangular viewport. Every DOM element (text nodes, images, canvas, form controls, SVG, etc.) can be:

Positioned, rotated, and scaled in world / XR reference spaces

Layered with true depth ordering (not just z-index compositing) for stereoscopic correctness

Interacted with using spatial input sources (gaze, hands, controllers, future: eye tracking, anchors)

Composed alongside native 3D assets (GLTF models, environment maps) in one unified frame loop

In short: a Spatial Web Browser lets "regular Web pages" become immersive 3D experiences without abandoning open Web standards.

2. Why Not Just Extend an Existing (Classic) Browser? ​

Traditional engines (Blink, Gecko, WebKit) are extraordinarily capable—but architecturally optimized for 2D document + compositor pipelines. Retrofitting full 3D spatial semantics collides with deep assumptions:

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