The Future of Mixed Reality Development: With Guest Thomas Van Bouwel
Nov 13, 2023
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Thomas Van Bouwel, indie developer and pioneer of Meta's Presence Platform suite of tools, joins Boz to discuss the creativity unlocked by mixed reality (MR) in XR development. They delve into the potential for room-scale experiences without moving furniture and the benefits of MR in architecture. They also touch on sensor accuracy, the popularity of the presence platform, and the inspiration behind Cubism. The chapter explores the promise of MR in gaming, design, and industries, and the joy of MR experiences and favorite buildings.
Mixed reality allows developers to design and ship MR-native games that interact with the physical environment, eliminating the need to rearrange furniture for gameplay.
VR has the potential to transform the field of architecture by enhancing user testing and feedback in the design process.
Deep dives
The Excitement for New Products
The podcast episode discusses the recent release of two new products: the Rayvan Metaglasses and the Quest 3 mixed reality headset. The response from the community has been positive, with creative use cases emerging, such as using mixed reality while doing household chores.
Introduction of a Developer
The podcast introduces Thomas Van Bau, a developer who has created the popular game Cubism for the Quest. Thomas discusses his background in architecture and engineering, as well as his transition to full-time game development. He also mentions his upcoming game called Laser Dance, which is designed specifically for mixed reality.
The Excitement of Working in Mixed Reality
Thomas shares his enthusiasm for working in mixed reality, highlighting its potential for reinventing the gaming experience. He emphasizes the importance of user feedback and the need to involve the community in the development process. Thomas also discusses the benefits of using APIs and scene understanding in creating immersive experiences.
The Impact of VR in Architecture
The podcast delves into the use of VR in the field of architecture. Thomas reflects on his experience working with architects and how VR can be a transformative tool in the design process. He discusses the challenges of integrating VR into traditional workflows and the potential for VR to enhance user testing and feedback in the architectural field.
In today’s episode, our host, Meta CTO and Head of Reality Labs Andrew “Boz” Bosworth is joined by Thomas Van Bouwel, the indie developer behind beloved puzzle game Cubism.
A former architect turned solo XR developer, Van Bouwel has been a pioneer of Meta’s Presence Platform suite of tools—in fact, Cubism was one of first Meta Quest games to integrate Passthrough and hand tracking. Currently, Van Bouwel’s working on a game built for the ground up for mixed reality called Laser Dance.
Together, Boz and Van Bouwel discuss how mixed reality is inspiring creativity among the XR development community. As MR unlocks the ability to blend virtual elements with your physical environment, we find ourselves in an exciting time that mirrors the energy around room-scale VR back in 2017. And there’s a unique opportunity for developers to design and ship MR-native games that interact with your space as opposed to requiring you to move furniture around to create a large enough playspace. Thanks to color Passthrough and our Scene API, there’s more potential for truly room-scale experiences than ever before.
For feedback and suggestions, drop Boz a message @boztank on Instagram, Threads, or Twitter.
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