The Meta Spatial SDK is now available for developers.
Until now, building even a simple app for the Quest headset required the use of full-blown game engines like Unity, Unreal, Godot, etc. These are heavy tools that require importing large amounts of assets and reinventing the wheel to achieve simple interfaces and interactions.
“With the Spatial SDK, Meta Quest devices become just another form factor in the mobile development process, rather than an entirely new technology stack.”
The Meta Spatial SDK changes this by allowing developers to use their existing mobile app development tools, including IDEs like Android Studio, the Kotlin programming language, and existing mobile frameworks and libraries such as 2D UI frameworks.
Whether building a new app or porting a 2D Android app, the primary function of the Meta Spatial SDK is to enable developers to add 3D elements and immersive experiences to traditionally developed apps.
It offers support for rendering, optional pass-through, controller and hand tracking, flatscreen and immersive media playback, physics, and spatial audio.
For example, developers can easily add a 360-degree photo viewer or floating 3D models without writing any rendering or lighting code, or use the Meta Spatial SDK to create fully immersive apps with multiple floating windows and 3D elements.
The new Meta Spatial Editor enables developers to position, scale and align 2D and 3D elements in their apps without using game engine editors.
Metaspace SDK.
The Meta Spatial SDK appears to be Meta’s answer to Apple’s native visionOS development tool suite, giving developers the ability to extend their iOS and iPadOS apps or build new visionOS apps using the same tech stack they’re accustomed to on traditional devices, without the need for a game engine.
The Meta Spatial SDK should significantly reduce the cost and time required to bring spatial computing apps to Horizon OS, and we’ll be keeping an eye on the platform to see if this leads to a wave of new apps.
Interested developers can get started with the Meta Spatial SDK today.
