Meta Quest Passthrough Camera API
I worked on early camera prototypes and samples at Meta, then made QuestCameraKit: open-source examples for object detection, QR tracking, and camera effects.
XR & AI engineer · Zurich
Always building.
Always curious.
I’m Roberto. I build apps for headsets, tools for other developers, and the occasional project that starts on a train ride. You might know me from my Unity and mixed reality tutorials.
My session at Meta Connect 2025
VR 102: Beyond the Basics
A walkthrough of the tools we used to build Blossom Buddy, a mixed reality plant assistant.
01 / Projects
Selected work
01 / 06
Meta XR SDK v83 AI Inference Building Blocks
At Meta, I helped build Unity components for adding object detection, language models, and voice to Quest apps. Used in our Blossom Buddy demo at Connect.
Swiss Transit Explorer
A train ride to Italy became my first ChatGPT app. It compares Swiss public transport routes, including delays and the chance of missing a connection.
XR Pro Player
A video player that brings 3D objects into the room in time with a film. Built with Aurelio Puerta Martin to try a different kind of storytelling.
visionOS Train Diorama
Two days at an Apple workshop in Paris, one miniature railway. My first native visionOS app after years of working in Unity.
Decart XR Collaboration + Challenge Winner
I contributed to Decart’s XR samples, then built a video player that changes the look of your room to match the film. It won first prize in their XR challenge.
More projects
Meta Wearables Device Access Toolkit (DAT) Overview
Meta Horizon Start Developer Competition
MR Motifs
MRUK Documentation Overhaul
Immersive Sports Entertainment
visionOS Football Statistics App
GorillaZilla (Mixed Reality Course)
XR Fundamentals Course
XR Keyboard with AI prediction
Meta Avatars Multiplayer Template
Meta Avatars Multiplayer Course
02 / On camera
Talks & conversations
012025 / YouTube
022025 / YouTube
Breaking Into XR: A Developer’s Journey from Content Creator to Meta Engineer
How making XR tutorials led to my work at Meta Reality Labs. A conversation with XR AI Spotlight about that path and the tools I work on.
AI + XR Workshop - XRCC 2025
My XRCC workshop on connecting AI models to mixed reality apps, with examples you can build in Unity.
More talks & videos
03 / Tutorials & writing
How I made it
Code, walkthroughs, and the details
I wish I’d known at the start.
How my train ride to Italy led to my very first MCP server and ChatGPT app thanks to mcp-use
Read article ↗
Room setup with MRUK, custom interactions & more with Meta's Open Source Sample Cryptic Cabinet
Read article ↗
MRUK Space Sharing API - Share your room mesh with friends on Meta Quest
Read article ↗More articles
Meta Passthrough Camera API is here!
Colocation with Meta's Shared Spatial Anchors & the new Colocation Discovery API
Destructible Global Mesh, Instant Content Placement and MRUK Trackables - Meta's MRUK v71 update
Create an XR Drawing using Logitech's MX Ink Stylus
Use Meta's Llama 3 Model in Unity with Amazon Bedrock
Use Meta's Voice SDK for Wake Word Detection & Speech To Text (STT)
Apple Vision Pro UI Interactions with Unity PolySpatial
Apple Vision Pro Input & Object Manipulation with Unity PolySpatial
Create and Manage SwiftUI windows with Unity PolySpatial for Apple visionOS
Virtual Windows in Passthrough Mode | Selective Passthrough Shader & Stencil Shader
Advanced Hand Tracking and Lighting Fast Interaction Setup
Apple Vision Pro: My first impressions & a masterclass of why less is more
Meta XR Simulator | Synthetic Environments, Scene Recording & Multiplayer Testing
Meta Quest Spatial Anchors | Create, Save, Erase & Load spatial anchors
Meta Quest Scene API - Scene Understanding & Content Placement
Meta Quest Depth API and Occlusion Shaders for Environment Occlusion in Mixed Reality
Meta Quest Passthrough API | How to make virtual and passthrough windows
Unity XR Hands Shapes & Poses - Create Custom Gestures with Gesture Building Blocks
How to use Lights & Shadows in Passthrough Mode
Mixed Reality Utility Kit: Build spatially-aware apps with Meta XR SDK
Unity Sentis: Create AI-driven XR experiences
Meta Hand Tracking Pointer & Pinch: Create next generation interactions with Meta's OVR Hands
Meta's Building Blocks | Develop Mixed Reality Apps lightning fast
Haptic Feedback with Meta's Haptic Studio & Haptics SDK
Get started with visionOS development and Unity's PolySpatial package
Meta Quest Controller Input & Animations
Unity's cross-platform mixed reality template for Meta Quest, HoloLens 2 & Magic Leap 2
Get Started with Meta Quest Development in Unity
Lynx R1 Setup | Use Handtracking and Enabling AR Mode
How to create a Hand Tracking App using Unity's XRI
Developing for the Apple Vision Pro
Build the Next Generation of VR & MR with Meta Quest 3
What we didn't expect of the new Apple XR headset and its xrOS
Roberto Coviello / @xrdevrob
04 / About me
Hi, I’m Roberto.
I came to XR through Unity and making tutorials. That led to work at Meta Reality Labs, where I helped build mixed reality samples and AI tools for Quest developers.
A lot of that work happened between the code and the people using it: rebuilding the MRUK documentation with the team, making MR Motifs tutorials, and presenting at Meta Connect.
At Ambient Intent, I’m developing Quak, a tool for testing XR apps on real headsets. Alongside that, I keep making smaller experiments, like a train timetable inside ChatGPT or a miniature railway for Vision Pro.
Have a project in mind, or a question about something here? Send me a note. You can also find my studio work at Ambient Intent ↗.