Photon

Create, Share and Explore Immersive 3D Videos!

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Inspiration

In 2024 we developed Spatial TV, where we found real-time lighting could create a truly amazing video watching experience. We believe the next step would be bringing this amazing experience to 3D videos

Back in early 2025, there was no platform for sharing spatial video on Meta Quest yet. So we thought it might be a good idea to be the first the build it out and integrate the spatial lighitng effect.

What it does

Photon is a spatial video sharing platform, where people create, share and explore 3D videos.

We also developed the technology to convert any 2D video to 3D, so anyone can convert their favorite 2D video to 3D and easily share on Photon.

How we built it

We started off building the core framework for a content platform: a website for uploading videos and the Photon app for discovering and watching 3D videos.

Later, we worked on critical improvements that we think matters the most for our users, including the spatial lighting, personalized recommendation and UI refinement.

Challenges we ran into

Implementing spatial lighting for 3D video was the most challenging part, as it involves close integration of a hybrid tech stack: getting the video texture from Android and then sending them to Unity through low level graphic APIs.

It also involves a lot of craftsmanship to make the lighting effect look truly beautiful.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud to build the first and largest spatial video sharing community on Meta Quest!

Summary of updates during the competition period

  • We expanded beyond spatial videos and supported the upload and playback of a new media type: VR180 (v2.0.0)

  • Introduced a whole new discovery page for users to explore videos they love. (v2.2.0)

  • Fully reworked the whole UI experience (including profile, search and message page), replacing them with a clean and modern look. (v2.1.0)

  • Further improved the visual quality of the immersive lighting experience, the transition between videos also gets smoother.

  • Improved the visual quality of the 2D to 3D conversion algorithm.

What's next for Photon

We see three areas where we'll make improvements in the near future

  • More customization in discovery page, like tag filters
  • Better personalized recommendation and search experience
  • Creator incentivization: we plan to launch creator incentive program to support our creator community
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