# Install openhmd with Homebrew, apk, dnf Free and open source API and drivers for immersive technology. Version 0.3.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with apk: sudo apk add openhmd. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:openhmd ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install openhmd ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add openhmd ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openhmd from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install openhmd ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: openhmd from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:openhmd - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 0.3.0 - **Source summary:** Free and open source API and drivers for immersive technology - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - simple (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 0.3.0 ## Project history and usage OpenHMD is a free and open-source API and driver project for immersive hardware, especially head-mounted displays with built-in tracking. It provides a permissively licensed C library intended to let applications and runtimes talk to VR and XR devices without vendor SDK lock-in. ### Project history The OpenHMD GitHub repository was created in May 2013, during the early consumer-VR wave around Oculus Rift developer hardware. Its README states the project's goal plainly: provide a free and open-source API and drivers for immersive technology such as head-mounted displays with built-in head tracking. OpenHMD 0.2.0 was released in September 2016, and OpenHMD 0.3.0 "Djungelvral" followed in July 2019 after years of reverse engineering, testing, and device-support work. The 0.3 release notes and project blog highlight support work for devices such as 3Glasses D3, Oculus CV1, Windows Mixed Reality HMDs, NOLO, HTC Vive, and HTC Vive Pro. ### Adoption history OpenHMD occupied an important niche before OpenXR became the dominant open standard: it gave Linux and open-source graphics developers a small, permissive library for experimental VR hardware access. Its Homebrew, Fedora, and Alpine packaging reflects that it is a library package more than an end-user application. ### How it is used Developers use OpenHMD to enumerate supported HMD devices and read pose/tracking data through a common API. Because device support often depends on reverse-engineered USB/HID behavior, users typically consult the device compatibility list before expecting full rotational, positional, or controller support. OpenHMD is also used indirectly through bridges and higher-level projects, including attempts to connect supported headsets to SteamVR or other XR stacks. ### Why package nerds care OpenHMD is package-nerd notable as a hardware-enablement library from the messy pre-OpenXR era. It is small, permissively licensed, and depends heavily on community reverse engineering, which makes its packaging and compatibility matrix more important than a typical application package. ### Timeline - May 2013: the OpenHMD GitHub repository was created. - September 2016: OpenHMD 0.2.0 was published. - July 2019: OpenHMD 0.3.0 "Djungelvral" was released with expanded AR/VR device support. - 2024-2025: issue activity and repository metadata show continued maintenance discussions, though the release cadence is sparse. ### Related projects - OpenHMD sits near OpenXR, OpenVR/SteamVR, Monado, OSVR, libusb/HID stacks, and device-specific bridge projects such as SteamVR-OpenHMD. ### Sources - - - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Other Package-Manager Records - apk - openhmd - 0.3.0-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openhmd from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Free and Open Source API and drivers for immersive (VR) technology | http://www.openhmd.net/ - apk - openhmd-dev - 0.3.0-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openhmd-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Free and Open Source API and drivers for immersive (VR) technology (development files) | http://www.openhmd.net/ - dnf - openhmd - 0.3.0^20250112git4dbc6c9-7.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: openhmd from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Free and Open Source API and drivers for immersive technology | http://www.openhmd.net - dnf - openhmd-devel - 0.3.0^20250112git4dbc6c9-7.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: openhmd-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Development headers and libraries for openhmd | http://www.openhmd.net - dnf - openhmd-doc - 0.3.0^20250112git4dbc6c9-7.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: openhmd-doc from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Developer documentation for openhmd | http://www.openhmd.net - dnf - openhmd-examples - 0.3.0^20250112git4dbc6c9-7.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: openhmd-examples from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Examples for openhmd | http://www.openhmd.net ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/openhmd.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/openhmd.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph