Khronos royalty-free open standards for 3D graphics, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Parallel Computing, Machine Learning, and Vision Processing

In the Mapping the World with Bilawal Sidhu series, Bilawal interviews Khronos Group President Neil Trevett. Neil explains how the new KHR_gaussian_splatting extension brings 3D Gaussian splats into glTF -- the royalty-free open format already used across the web for 3D content. He describes the core splat representation as stable enough for standardization, noting that Khronos moved quickly to prevent ecosystem fragmentation. The extension includes a graceful fallback to point cloud rendering for unsupported viewers. He also previews glTF's broader ambition: evolving beyond a visual container format to support scene understanding and semantics, positioning it as foundational infrastructure for both the spatial web and embodied AI.

In this podcast by Spatial Realities, Khronos' Frederic Plourde is interviewed by Thomas Bedenk. Frederic updated Thomas on where OpenXR stands, how it has developed over the last couple of years, and where it is heading. Frederic also previewed an upcoming feature called multi-app support. 

The UHD World Association (UWA) has published the industry's first spatial imaging standard for 3D Gaussian Splatting content, developed in direct technical coordination with the Khronos Group's 3D Formats Working Group.

The standard addresses the lack of a common exchange format for 3DGS content by centering on glTF as its storage format, with compatibility for meshes and point clouds, and outer-layer packaging via MP4 and HEIF. It also introduces EGSC, a new codec delivering up to 30x compression with visually lossless quality on mobile devices.

UWA and the Khronos Group have entered into a strategic partnership to develop globally unified standards for spatial imaging, jointly launching the CKAP China Graphics Working Group to promote standards coordination, including references to the KHR_Gaussian_Splatting extension and tool contributions.

In this blog from Collabora, Colloabora introduces their work with environmental nonprofit SOMAR to build an open source XR experience that immerses users in the underwater soundscape of Portugal's Algarve, using real acoustic recordings to illustrate the harmful effects of human-made noise pollution on marine life. Built on OpenXR, the experience was designed to run on standalone headsets as well as Google Cardboard-compatible phone setups, maximizing accessibility for broader audiences. SOMAR has already debuted the application publicly to strong reception, using it as a hands-on advocacy tool with students, families, and the general public.

The Vulkan SDK 1.4.350.0 is now available for download simultaneously for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Highlights of this release include major updates for KosmicKrisp, support for 16 new extensions, and ARM64X support for the GFXReconstruct capture layer. Overall, this maintenance-focused update brings tooling and platform-specific improvements while continuing Vulkan’s steady evolution.

The Khronos Vulkan SC Working Group, in collaboration with RasterGrid, has released the Vulkan SC 1.0.21 SDK, a unified installer for Linux and Windows that combines the Vulkan SC Loader, emulation driver stack, validation layers, device simulation layer, pipeline cache utilities, cube sample, info tool, and CMake and Pipeline Cache Compiler integration in a single package. The SDK replaces the previous process of installing and configuring each component separately, and offers optional automatic environment setup and Pipeline Cache Compiler discovery during installation. The installers are available now on GitHub.