ILLIXR is first-of-its kind open source testbed and consortium for the broad Extended Reality (XR) community, which encompasses virtual (VR), augmented (AR) and mixed reality (MR). The necessity for ILLIXR exists because of the lack of an “open-source full system benchmark and testbed to drive and evaluate innovation,” according to Sarita Adve, ADA Center PI.

ILLIXR steps into this void, but it took purposeful initiative to find the right funding opportunity for the next step. That funding came through, in the form of a $1 million community research infrastructure grant from the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) for a period  of 36 months.