Will Eastcott, CEO of PlayCanvas and veteran of EA, Sony, and Activision with credits on GTA, Call of Duty, and Max Payne, explains how Gaussian splatting is moving from experiments to production. He breaks down SuperSplat, an open source editor for cropping, recoloring, and optimizing splats for the web, and details a streaming level of detail system that scales from phones to desktops. Will shares how the new SOG format, built on lossless WebP, can cut files by up to 95 % while preserving quality. You will learn practical capture options like lidar based rigs, when to use streaming, how to ship WebXR viewers, and where splats are gaining traction in ecommerce, real estate, and cultural heritage.

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Thomas van Bouwel is an indie XR game developer known for Cubism, one of the most successful puzzle games on Quest. In this episode, he shares the three-year journey of building Laser Dance, a rhythm stealth game that turns your living room into a laser-filled obstacle course using mixed reality. Thomas explains how rapidly evolving SDKs, scene meshing, and body tracking changed the game’s design mid-development, why real room geometry creates both magic and technical chaos, and how extensive playtesting across player abilities and physical spaces shaped the final product. He also discusses accessibility settings, music design, and the realities of sustaining an indie career in XR. Listeners will learn the hidden challenges of room-scale MR development, how to design for unpredictable environments, and how shifting market demographics impact creative and business decisions in today’s XR ecosystem.

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Bobak Tavangar, co-founder of Brilliant Labs, joins the show to unpack Halo, the lightweight open-source AR glasses built for AI-first computing. Unlike camera-heavy smart glasses designed for social media, Halo focuses on continuous low-power sensing, on-device AI inference, and full-day wearability—turning an AI agent into a true “second brain.” Bobak explains how Halo handles privacy by discarding raw media and storing only embeddings, why open source is critical for innovation, and how developers are already building real-world applications across healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and robotics. He breaks down the tech stack behind real-time multimodal AI, memory recall, and “vibe coding,” a natural language way to create apps without writing code. The conversation also explores pricing strategy, hardware trade-offs, business models, and where AR input and display technology must evolve next. Listeners will learn what it actually takes to build meaningful AI glasses and where the industry is heading in 2026–2027.

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Preston Platt, CTO and founder of Rock Paper Reality, joins the show to share how his team pushes the limits of XR development by blending AI workflows with rapid prototyping. With more than 16 years of experience in 3D modelling, animation, and spatial computing, Preston has built AR and MR projects for mobile, smartglasses, and headsets like the Apple Vision Pro. In this conversation, he explains how his studio embraces AI to accelerate code and asset generation, the role of generalists in creative teams, and why open XR remains critical for cross-platform development. He also reflects on the challenges of AI-driven characters, latency in NPC interactions, and the tradeoffs between artistry and automation. Listeners will gain insights into emerging workflows, platform adoption, and the future of shared immersive experiences across devices.

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Roy Rodenaheuser is a London-based Creative Technologist with over 12 years of experience at Yahoo, Unity, and Capgemini. In this episode he shares the story behind Canvastique3D, a project he launched in 2024 that blends physical creativity with real-time 3D visualization. Canvastique3D allows designers, artists, and even industries like textiles and furniture to project physical materials and artwork directly onto digital 3D models, opening new possibilities for rapid prototyping and product visualization.

We discuss how creatives across fashion, interior design, toys, and even beverage branding are experimenting with the tool, and why simplicity often wins over photorealism. Roy also explains his approach to balancing full-time work with side projects, the role of storytelling in product demos, and why sharing prototypes early is crucial. Listeners will gain insights into bridging physical and digital workflows, strategies for validation, and practical advice for creative technologists.

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Manuel, a TEDx speaker, former head of XR Design at IBM Canada and Currently Emerging tech Advocate at Unity, brings 15 years of experience across industries from aerospace to gaming and now teaches at institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. In this episode, he discusses how creativity is shifting in an era where AI lowers barriers to entry, allowing more diverse voices to contribute. Manuel shares insights from his cultural preservation project Protopica, created with filmmaker Will Selviz, which uses AI, to explore Caribbean futurism and interactive storytelling. He reflects on the surprises and limitations of AI in creative workflows, the balance between specialization and generalist skills, and the importance of play and curiosity for future generations of creatives. The conversation also dives into education for AI-native children, ethical considerations around tools, and how recruiters now value storytelling and adaptability more than formal credentials.

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Philip is a VFX artist at RiseFX creating visual effects for Films and TV Shows. He is growing an incredible a youtube channel called Pixel Artistry covering the latest tools and workflows in the rapidly evolving world of 3D GenAI to share his learning with a growing community of over 8000 subscribers. His content is some of the best I have found when it comes to 3D GenAI. His videos are both clear and actionable and today I sit down with him to learn:

• How he deals with the current limitations of 3D models generated by AI

• What are his favourite 3DGenAI models and why

• What is the next thing you should do if you are serious about 3D GenAI.

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Roberto Coviello is an engineer at Meta Reality Labs, where he builds open-source showcases and samples to help push XR development forward. He’s also known for his YouTube Channel full of in-depth XR tutorials that played a key role in his career. In this conversation we look at:

• How he started his professional journey as a developer, turned content creator, and the path that led him to become a Software Engineer at Meta

• We look at several SDKs provided by Meta and what he thinks is a must-have for any MR app

• What are his thoughts on the role of AI for artists and developers

• How he finds the right balance between employment and cultivating his dreams

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