Last week M3 speed-ran producing a virtual demo day event in under 72 hours, gathering 5 different speakers and 40+ people into one ultra creative Hyperfy.io world designed by 7OROY. This post serves as a recap and call for collab on future events.
Recap of the talks from M3 Demo Day hosted August 21, 2023
Boom-Tools for VRM Avatars
Godfrey, aka Boombox Head, introduces himself and discusses his tool called Boom Tools, which focuses on VRM avatar creation and avatar interoperability. Boom Tools is open source and available on GitHub. The tool allows users to compile 3D assets into a VRM collection using Unity. It also offers randomization features and the ability to load metadata from previous collections. Boom Tools exports collectibles in GLB format and uses UniVRM for exporting VRMs from Unity. Godfrey plans to release additional tools for texture atlasing optimization soon.
Output images are 4k resolution and a newer version of HDRP Boom-Tools is coming out as well. The tool can export NFTs with rich dynamic content, utilizing the VRM URL attribute in metadata export for loading VRM avatars in metaverse platforms like oncyber and Hyperfy. IPFS is used as the storage medium, and platforms like Zora can be used for minting collections as NFTs with custom metadata.
If you want to support Boomboxhead and the effort to build open source tools for producing 3D collections then I recommend to mint a Boomboxhead v2.
Text to glTF project by @avirtualfuture
@avirtualfuture discusses his work on an open source project related to metaverse and virtual reality document rendering. He explains his goal of creating usable 3D documents without the need for additional extensions or standards. The speaker demonstrates various iterations of virtual documents, including a book-like format and a Wikipedia article converted into a virtual document. He highlights the challenges faced in rendering crisp text and shares his solution of converting text into a quad per character to optimize texture memory usage.
The project aims to enable cross-platform document sharing and innovation without relying on extensions. The speaker showcases examples of 3D documents with clear text that can be viewed up close without high memory consumption. He mentions the possibility of using extensions to support live data or hyperlinks to load other documents. The presentation concludes by highlighting the potential for spatializing documentation, facilitating learning, and creating immersive poster hubs and libraries through this project’s procedural approach.
Avaer: Upstreet Overview
Avaer, one of the OG founders of M3, talked about Upstreet.AI and its many new features like multiplayer and AI support. The multiplayer tech is scalable and runs on cloudflare workers. Avaer also discusses the potential of the metaverse for AGI development and expresses dissatisfaction with current corporate implementations. He expresses a vision for building a game world called Upstreet where humans and AIs can interact together. Avaer mentions various ideas such as land claims, wearables, pets, vehicles, NPCs, gameplay, and integrating AI personalities into the game world.
We then journeyed into Upstreet.ai, a multiplayer infinitely scalable server with AI NPCs. Building on the research of generative agents, Upstreet can become a vast virtual world inhabited by complex AI characters and players. Avaer is open to questions and suggest using Discord as a platform for discussion. When asked about plans for a VR version, he mentions the possibility and stated that WebXR works well with some minor crashes. As a single developer, priorities are important but Avaer hope to implement a token mechanism for more aligned user input in the future.
Audioreactive Lights in Hyperfy.io
Voxvienne explained how to use Hyperfy to create Audio Reactive Lights in a scene by walking through the steps, including giving the material a name and emission color, adding an audio source and labeling it, and assigning the audio bridge. He also mentions using an Audio Light to enhance the lighting effects by visually connecting the emissive lights on object with project lights on ground / surrounding environment.
Additionally, he notes that once a GLB file is added to Audio Bloom, it can be reused in other apps for automatic Audio Reactivity. The presentation then circled around the corner into a pop-up display of all the ingredients coming alive together with music. It was an epic moment.
CarTarL: Wearable Attachable Systems
CarTarL, the community manager for Cyberbrokers, discusses attachables and their use in VRMs (Virtual Reality Models). He explains that while the easiest approach is to update the base VRM through a website UI, they are exploring the use of JSON metadata attached to NFT avatars and wearables. Mike demonstrates this concept by showcasing Mech Mods, which are attachable items that can be added to avatars in Hyperfy. He also mentions the importance of defining reference points on the avatar's exterior mesh for proper attachment. The goal is to enable users to shop for and try on 3D accessories in virtual worlds. Feedback on this concept is welcomed.
M3morabilia
Everybody who attended and signed the guest book was airdropped this photowall NFT memorabilia right after the event. Virtual photography collages like such are pretty popular in social VR home spaces and chill rooms like those in VRChat.
We plan to do more m3morabilia drops in future events that can go beyond the traditional POAP (Proof Of Attendance Protocol), although we love POAPs as well and think they can make for interesting buttons / pins as wearables.
Brief History of M3 Demo Days
M3 is one of the few online spatial computing communities that hosts in-world meetups that gather developers and creators from across different projects and ecosystems to share a WIP or demo. We have hosted and documented dozens of events and field trips featuring a wide array of speakers and educational topics: https://github.com/m3-org/research
M3 brings together a motley crew of indie VR devs and open source developers in a series of immersive events that delve into the evolving metaverse landscape. From discussing permissionless innovation via WebXR and local-first cyberspace, to diving into the complexities of monetization, these events provided a platform for metaverse enthusiasts to unravel the intricacies of the digital realm. Highlights include cross-platform world hops, VR panels in VR, and a glimpse into the potential of NFTs a year before the hype train arrived.
I think it's fair to say that after 4 years of experience producing virtual events we have gotten pretty good at it, and we'd love to collaborate with other communities as well on such. Please reach out to dankvr or the M3 discord if interested!