Published on 22 Aug 25 by Lynx
Lynx is a high-tech company focusing on delivering Mixed Reality headsets for AR & VR. We develop hardware for a living, but our software team is bigger than the hardware team as we have to take care of our AOSP-based OS running on Lynx-R1, firmware, drivers etc to enable an OpenXR compatible runtime.
One of our core principles is to be as open as possible and give back to the AR/VR community. Today, we are proud to release our work around 6DoF, a multiple-years effort. 6DoF, or SLAM, is one the core perception features needed for immersive AR/VR. It enables the headset to understand the user’s movements and give the ability for 3D virtual objects to appear fixed in space.
This is experimental and is used by very specific Lynx customers. The default perception algorithm used in Lynx-R1 is the 6DoF algorithm provided by Qualcomm.
Open-source SLAM algorithms are very good, and have been good for the last 8 years or so. You can see from this benchmark that there is a large choice to pick an algorithm with a good range of sensor configurations. The real problem with 6DoF has been the productization of it: including it in the runtime, managing edge-cases, recovery, etc.
At Lynx, we started from the famous ORB-SLAM3 algorithm. Our work started as early as ORB-SLAM2. We took ORB-SLAM3 code and made it compatible for Android, and more precisely Android running with a Qualcomm chipset.
The code is released with GPLv3 license, to enable the community to use it but forcing other companies to keep it open-source so we can all benefit from this starting point and the potential follow-ups.
You can build a .so library that will take in input images and output a 6DoF pose. There is a part of our program that uses proprietary Qualcomm-specific instructions to accelerate some computer vision functions. The benefit is that the system is real time, but the inconvenience for now is that these functions are obfuscated behind a wrapper. It is very feasible to build the library for Android still but without this Qualcomm specific functions and replace them with OpenCV-like equivalents.
This version has been optimized to run at 90 fps without IMU input and no concurrence with hand-tracking and default 6DoF, only relying on XR2 Gen 1 hardware. The camera resolution is 640x400 and is hardcoded in the Qualcomm-specific part so if you want a different image resolution, you need to use the library without the specific Qualcomm functions or we can recompile for you.
The code is separated in two projects:
- The ORB-SLAM3 library for Android (github)
- The Lynx specific code around the lib, with a demo app that can run on Lynx-R1. (github)
You can find the documentation for the projects on our Portal.
This is a first release, and we welcome community feedback on this work. To that end, feel free to communicate with the relevant people from Lynx about your specific demands or recommendations/contributions using the address system-team+6dof@lynx-r.com.
This work was made possible thanks to the extraordinary contribution of one of our engineers Gaston Rouquette you might also know as VoHeLi from our unofficial Lynx Discord, with the help and coordination of the Lynx System team.
Published on 17 Mar 25 by Lynx
The version 1.3.1 of the Lynx firmware is out.
This update, coupled with the previous 1.3, is bringing updates to the underlying AOSP codebase as well as the support for OpenXR 1.1.
The minor update fixes a memory leak and introduces the floor offset property at the runtime level.
Feel free to visit our documentation and learn how to update your device.
The full and detailed changelog is here.
You can update your Lynx-R1 directly in the launcher through OTA.
This update is also laying up the groundwork for an upcoming exciting release which will feature a revamped OS launcher and interface built with StereoKit as well as the streaming/casting of your device.
Published on 21 Dec 23 by Lynx
The 1.1.8 firmware for Lynx R-1 is out.
This minor update includes a set of interesting features:
Feel free to visit our documentation and learn how to update your device.
The full and detailed changelog is here.
This is also the first firmware where we deploy partial OTA updates, meaning if you were already on 1.1.7, you don't need to download the whole firmware but just the patched files!
The SDK and Preview package were also updated, with exciting features like access to the PointCloud data, 6DoF information, etc...
A Vuforia sample is also available on request.
Here is a complete recap of our work in a video format.
Continue the discussion in the community center.
Published on 28 Nov 23 by Lynx
Our application store is currently open to developers and ready to serve applications.
We are starting to roll out our solution for app distribution and if you are a developer, you can start to enroll your organization (or yourself if you're self-employed) today.
For now, we only support free apps. We will support paid apps starting January 2024.
Organization and application pages are public but we will keep the main front-endof the store hidden as we test the system with the community.
The store will work on both desktop and Lynx devices to download packages. We completely changed the installation process of .apk files in the Lynx headset to allow .apk to be installed smoothly from our main web browser: Wolvic.
We are excited to collaborate with developers to kickstart the most open ecosystem in AR/VR.
Continue the discussion in the community center.
Published on 15 Nov 23 by Lynx
The 1.1.7 firmware for Lynx R-1 is out.
This firmware fixes the battery charging behavior. Now you can charge the headset while it stays off.
The LED will turn completely green when the device is at >90% of charge.
This firmware update also corrects the passthrough latency consistency.
We are working on publishing the Unreal SDK and an update to the Unity Package Preview to access the Point Cloud.
Continue the discussion on this thread.
Published on 11 Oct 22 by Lynx
This new website is the first block of our new infrastructure to share resources with you and bring services to Lynx users.
The main goal is to have a space where we can discuss with our users and community at large, to gather feedback.
The Portal also serves documentation, downloads, and soon our API and the application store.
We will roll out more features and downloads every week, the system is built to be massively expandable and very secure. It will serve as the main hub for Lynx, and will replace our e-commerce on the main domain early next year.
November and December are going to be intense for us at Lynx as we roll out the first devices in the wild and in the hands of our Kickstarter backers.
We shared our SDK so if you're a developer, you can technically start developing on Lynx while waiting to test on a device. If some of you are building apps all the way to the .apk, we will gladly try them and even share them on our updates.
Read more about the Portal here.
Continue the discussion on this thread.