Light Puzzles MR

Master the art of lighting in Mixed Reality. Manipulate shadows, match the light, and solve the puzzle.

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Inspiration

Lighting defines the "soul" of a scene, but mastering it is difficult. Inspired by professional photo studios, Light Puzzles MR gamifies this art. We transform your living room into an interactive lighting lab, creating a relaxing yet intellectually stimulating Mixed Reality experience.

What it does

Light Puzzles MR is a spatial puzzle game where you match a specific lighting setup.

  • The Setup: A life-sized "Target" statue appears in your room via Passthrough, showing a specific shadow and highlight configuration.
  • The Interaction: Facing a miniature version of the statue, you use hand tracking to physically grab and move floating lights in mid-air.
  • The Goal: Moving the lights changes shadows in real-time. Your objective is to perfectly replicate the target's lighting.
  • The Score: Pressing "Done" calculates the light's angle and distance, displaying an immediate accuracy score (e.g., "94% Match").

How we built it

We built this using Unity and the Meta Presence Platform, optimized for Quest 3 and Quest 3S.

  • Interaction SDK: We used Building Blocks to quickly implement robust "Grab" gestures, allowing us to focus on the tactile "feel" of moving lights.
  • URP Optimization: To handle complex real-time lighting on mobile chipsets, we meticulously tuned the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) settings and shaders.
  • Spatial Light Intensity Calculation: We implemented a calculation based on surface area to ensure the light intensity looks consistent between the miniature interactive object and the life-sized "Target" object.

Challenges we ran into

  • Performance: High-fidelity lights initially dropped FPS to 40 on Quest 3S. We optimized shadow resolution to achieve a stable 72 FPS without sacrificing visual quality.
  • Visual Clarity: Overlapping models caused visual clutter. We solved this by placing models on adjustable pedestals and adding glass boundaries to clearly define the interactive area.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  1. Optimization: Successfully running multiple real-time lights at a stable 72 FPS on standalone hardware.
  2. Intuitive UX: The "Magic Moment" of physically touching light and seeing instant shadow changes feels natural and satisfying.

What's next for Light Puzzles MR

  • Real-World Integration: Using the Meta Scene Mesh API, virtual lights will cast shadows onto your real furniture.
  • Multiplayer: Shared Spatial Anchors will enable local co-op, allowing two users to collaborate like a professional lighting crew.

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