A virtual reality setup shows a coding environment with two screens on a simulated lunar surface. The left screen displays JavaScript code, while the right screen shows a web application with floating yellow spheres and a console log. A hand is extended towards the right screen, interacting with the interface.
Connect to your headset from VS Code with one click, and access essential tools like a console log, a WebGL stats monitor, and a scene inspector, all directly from your headset.
It’s free, local-first, and peer-to-peer, so your code never leave your local network.
We just started building, but we are getting some good feedback from the community. Feel free to join our Discord to hang out, and follow the development 😊
MRjs is a spatial UI library designed to help developers get started building for the spatial web. Its repo is open and available to the public.
The MRjs logo, a 3d pink and purple bowtie.
Bootstrapped
MRjs comes with foundational features already implemented, such as hand gestures, physics, and high-fidelity text rendering.
Extendable
MRjs comes with a built-in ECS, implemented using Web Components and vanilla JavaScript. Developers can extend the Entity class, or any other element to create their own 2D or 3D UI elements, and implement custom logic by extending the Systems class.
Under the hood
Built on top of already well established libraries such as THREE.js, WebGL, and Rapier.js, seasoned WebXR developers can quickly dive in to take full advantage of all MRjs has to offer.
Mixed-reality, spatial computing, “the metaverse”; regardless the name, Apple and Meta are coming in hot with new hardware, new app stores, and not-new 30% taxes.
But what about the web?
How do we create a thriving ecosystem of apps for those devices?
A photo of Laurent and Michael in San Francisco, on the patio of a coffee shop.
Laurent (on the left) and Michael (on the right), in a coffee shop in San Francisco.
We started building tools for the next generation of spatial apps. Currently, to build for mixed reality, you need expensive hardware, and to learn Unity or Unreal (those are made for games, not apps). The dev experience is exhaustive: write code on your computer; put on your headset; test; take-off your headset; repeat.
Imagine being anywhere, with just a headset and a bluetooth keyboard, to build your app, on an opensource framework, directly in mixed reality? This is what we are building.
A triangle (a play button) in a circle, with circle-based centering on the left (which looks centered) and box-based centering on the right (which looks off-centered).
It’s easy for beginner designers to get overwhelmed and lose confidence when creating presentations, landing pages, app mockups, and even cards.
I shared with Smashing Magazine’s readers a few simple guidelines and practical tips to help in such situations.
Excited to announce that PopStage (well, technically With Labs) is joining Glue (well, technically Mystery), through an acquisition of the team, and the intellectual property.
The PopStage and the Glue logo, on a mint-colored background, with a plus sign between them
As a remote employee myself, I always found it super challenging to create meaningful connections with people I work with. I’m so excited to get the opportunity to solve some fundamental problems for the future of work.
A PopSpace room with people in fun avatars working and chatting on a Piet Mondrian painting in the background.
We just re-released Tilde as open-source on Product Hunt. It is now called PopSpace! You can now host your own virtual space, on your own terms, with total control.
The Popstage logo, floating among soft colored bubbles.
Bring your workshops to life! PopStage aims to close the gap between online and in-person by adding space and interactivity to your workshops.
PopStage gives your training program the feeling of being in the same room by offering flexible layouts for each activity type: lectures, polls, breakout, whiteboards, and more.
The With logo, an abstract, mid-century modern inspired set of shapes, on a vibrant red background.
With was founded in 2020 by Chris Bourdon and I to help people connect, play and learn. from across the world.
We built two products: With (later renamed PopSpace) and PopStage. We were funded by Urban Innovation Funds, Fusion Fund, and Betaworks Ventures. The company was sold in 2023.
In 2010, developer Matt Patenaude and I founded the {13bold} collaborative with one simple mission: to create great software for the Macintosh platform.
The bowtie icon. Literally a Compact Disk wearing a tuxedo and a bowtie, in front of app preferences windows showing various themes.
Bowtie, the original themeable music controller, and its myriad of available themes.
A screenshot of Fontcase, a grid of tiles representing fonts, and the logo, a suitcase lined with red felt, and silver letters inside
I used to be a big user of Suitcase on MacOS 9, and I never thought that the default font manager on OSX was that good.
I always dreamed of a “iPhoto for your fonts”, and I knew I would call it Fontcase. When I reached a point in my career where I was “reputable enough”, I started to push this this idea among the developers I know. I pitched the idea to Sophia from Sophiestication, but she was afraid that Apple would come up with a better Font manager soon enough.
A podium with a large screen behind showcasing the app, and two small people in front of it, one of them being me. In the foreground, shadows of participant’s heads.
Me, receiving the award at the WWDC 09’
I then pitched the idea to Pieter Omvlee, and he immediately liked the idea, which was also a good match with his other designer-focused app called DrawIt. We started building Fontcase together, and finally released the version 1 in 2009.
A screenshot of DrawIt, an image editor, with a layer sidebar, an inspector, and a canvas showing a pink crystal.
Around 2007, after being really fed up with using Photoshop as a UI design tool, I decided to look for alternatives. Eventually, I found the website of Pieter Omvlee, who was working, on his own, on a cool software called DrawIt. I started using DrawIt, but soon realized that it could benefit from some visual design and usability improvements. Interestingly, Pieter had a “Chat with me on AIM now” button on his website, which was showing him online. I decided to contact him and offer my services as a UI and visual designer. We worked for months together on a new version of DrawIt, that we released with some good feedback from the community.
During the development of Fontcase, another app I worked with Pieter on, I traveled to San Francisco for vacation, and ended up getting an interview (and a job!) at the mothership.
As an Apple employee, I could no longer work with Pieter on DrawIt or Fontcase, so I introduced him to a dear friend of mine, Emanuel Sá, who took over work on both apps. It was not long after that they released a new version of DrawIt, with a new app icon, a new rendering engine, new UI elements, and most importantly, a new name, Sketch.
