[U31] - Pixel Prints

Inspiration

We’re passionate about crafting and wanted to bring that creativity into XR. Inspired by the ancient and therapeutic art of block printing, we created Pixel Prints —a fun, relaxing app that blends traditional crafts with cutting-edge technology. Our goal is to offer a globally accessible experience that introduces users to block printing in a simple, enjoyable way, while pushing the boundaries between the real and virtual. With Pixel Prints, you can enjoy the calming process of block printing in your room, all without the mess!

What it does

Pixel Prints lets users

• Carve a custom design into a stamp
• Print a design onto fabric or other surfaces
• Craft alongside friends.

How we built it

We built this experience in Unity using Meta Presence Platform, for interactions and passthrough, and Photon Fusion for the multiplayer aspect of the experience.

Challenges we ran into

We faced many challenges while adding the multiplayer aspect of the experience. We wanted to have a multiplayer experience as creating patterns and working together to fill a sheet with designs enhances the fun and relaxation of the block printing experience. While trying to add the multiplayer aspect, we needed to make sure the networking component of each of the shared objects would update in real-time, so that you could see what each player was designing and stamping. With issues connecting to the internet with our headsets and issues with the Meta Building Blocks overwriting some of our networking set-up, we spent a good amount of our time resolving these issues. We had tried to implement shared spatial anchors, but eventually had to drop that as it was overwriting our interactions.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are very proud of all of the features that we were able to add in. Being able to carve a design, use that design as a stamp and share stamps with other players!

What we learned

We learned a lot about working with Meta Presence Platform and using multiplayer. We also got a chance to learn about how to use shaders to effective give the illusion of carving and stamping.

What's next for Pixel Prints

We hope to add more to the Mixed Reality aspect of our app and allow users to trace their designs onto wood in real life, and export their virtual design as 3D objects that they can 3D print to create custom stamps.
We also hope to add more to the game experience by adding challenges that players can work together to complete, along with the ability to showcase designs and use them to decorate the player’s surroundings.

Built With

• meta
• meta-presence-platform
• photon-fusion
• unity
• winner