Networked A-Frame

Robert Koch, May 2022

Introduction

Networked A-Frame is one of the most straightforward ways to implement simultaneous multi-user functionality in an A-Frame WebVR project. Networked A-Frame represents different users with preset avatars (see image to the left), but these avatars can be adjusted after implementing multi-user functionality.

The GitHub repo for Networked A-Frame can be found here:

https://github.com/networked-aframe/networked-aframe

Starter Template

To skip the setup tutorial and begin with your own Networked A-Frame project, you can use this link to remix the base scene (provided by networked-aframe on GitHub):

Remix the Template

This will create a new Glitch project, which is one of the easiest platforms to host a Networked A-Frame project on.

Examples

All of the below examples are created by the networked-aframe team. See more examples at this link.

Google Blocks Avatars

https://naf-examples.glitch.me/google-blocks.html

Creating/Controlling Objects

https://naf-examples.glitch.me/ownership-transfer.html

360 Image

https://naf-examples.glitch.me/360.html

Tutorial

The best way to familiarize yourself with the different components and functionalities of Networked A-Frame is to follow the "Getting Started" tutorial, which can be found here (written by @HaydenLee37):

https://github.com/networked-aframe/networked-aframe/blob/master/docs/getting-started-local.md

Note that Networked A-Frame is currently build on A-Frame version 1.3.0, which limits compatibility if you want to apply Networked A-Frame to an existing project that does not use a recent version of A-Frame.