Building the Future with Magic Leap at MPC

February 2018 - February 2019

Looking back, my year at Moving Picture Company (MPC) was one of the most formative experiences of my career. This was 2018, and spatial computing was still largely experimental—Magic Leap had just released their first developer kits, and everyone was trying to figure out what the future of AR would actually look like.

The Magic Leap + Spotify Project

I joined MPC as a VR Engineer specifically to work on what would become one of my favorite projects: a Spotify application for Magic Leap. Imagine listening to your music library while seeing album art and visualizations floating in your living room, all rendered in spatial 3D. It was ambitious, challenging, and honestly a bit ahead of its time.

The coolest part? I got to work directly with Magic Leap’s internal development team. We weren’t just building on top of their platform—we were actively pushing its boundaries and helping shape what the Lumin SDK could do.

Deep Dive: C++ and the Lumin SDK

Most of my work involved extending the Lumin SDK using C++. Coming from a more game development and Unity background, working at this lower level was a steep learning curve, but incredibly rewarding. I focused on enhancing SDK features that would enable richer AR experiences—not just for our Spotify app, but for the entire developer ecosystem.

The technical challenges were real. Spatial audio, gesture recognition, and maintaining 60fps while rendering complex 3D scenes in a mixed reality environment required constant optimization. But that’s what made it exciting.

Building Foundations: Unity Architecture

While the C++ work was fascinating, I also spent significant time designing reusable game modules and core system architecture in C# and Unity. The goal was to create building blocks that could be used across multiple AR/VR projects.

I focused on:

• Performance-first architecture - Every millisecond mattered when rendering in VR
• Scalable systems - Code that could handle both simple demos and complex interactive experiences
• Reusability - Components that could be mixed and matched for different use cases

This architectural work laid the foundation for efficient development processes, allowing the team to iterate quickly without sacrificing quality.

Visual Magic: Shader Development

One of my favorite technical aspects was building custom shader effects using HLSL, ShaderLab, and ShaderGraph. Shaders are where the visual magic happens—they’re what make surfaces look realistic, create atmospheric effects, and bring scenes to life.

For the Spotify app, I created:

• Dynamic music visualizations that responded to audio frequencies
• Smooth animated transitions between UI states
• Atmospheric effects that made the virtual elements feel like they belonged in your physical space

Writing shaders taught me to think about graphics at a fundamental level—how light interacts with surfaces, how to optimize GPU performance, and how to create effects that look amazing while running efficiently on mobile hardware.

Leading a Team

Beyond the technical work, I had the opportunity to lead a small team of three developers. This was my first real leadership role, and it taught me that good code is only part of the equation.

We practiced:

• Pair programming - Two sets of eyes catch more bugs and share knowledge faster
• Rigorous QA - VR bugs are particularly disorienting for users, so we tested everything extensively
• Look development optimization - Making things look beautiful while maintaining performance
• Collaborative feature implementation - Everyone had input on how features should work

Mentoring other developers and coordinating our efforts showed me that I enjoyed the people side of engineering just as much as the technical challenges.

What I Learned

This role was transformative for several reasons:

1. Low-level programming skills - Working in C++ made me a better engineer across all languages
2. Cross-functional collaboration - Working with Magic Leap’s team taught me how to navigate partner relationships
3. Spatial computing fundamentals - Understanding how AR/VR works at a deep level has informed every immersive project I’ve done since
4. Team leadership - Learning to lead while also being hands-on technical

The Bigger Picture

While Magic Leap’s first generation didn’t achieve mainstream adoption, the work we did was pioneering. The technical challenges we solved, the architectural patterns we developed, and the lessons we learned about spatial computing have become increasingly relevant as AR/VR technology has matured.

Today, when I’m working on web-based 3D experiences with Three.js or building immersive installations for live events, I still draw on the fundamentals I learned during that year at MPC. Understanding how to optimize rendering pipelines, create performant shaders, and architect scalable systems—those skills are timeless.

Plus, getting to work on bleeding-edge technology with passionate people? That’s what makes this industry exciting.

Tech Stack: C++, C#, Unity, HLSL, ShaderLab, ShaderGraph, Magic Leap Lumin SDK, Spatial Audio, AR/VR

Company: Moving Picture Company (MPC)

Role: VR Engineer

Team: Led 3 developers

Key Outcomes:

• Developed Spotify application for Magic Leap platform
• Extended Lumin SDK with C++ enhancements for AR ecosystem
• Built reusable Unity architecture for AR/VR projects
• Created custom shader effects and music visualizations
• Collaborated directly with Magic Leap’s internal development team

Location: Los Angeles, CA