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Alex Coulombe edited this page Apr 30, 2026 · 2 revisions

For Talk Presenters

This page is for whoever is running the demo at FMX 2026 (Stuttgart, May 4–7) and NXT BLD 2026 (London, May 13).

What the audience does

  1. You show a QR code on screen or printed at the seats
  2. Audience scans it with their phone camera (no app install needed)
  3. A 3D venue loads in their phone browser
  4. They walk around using the joystick (bottom-left), look around by dragging the screen
  5. You invite them to change a design option ("switch Lighting to Ghost-light — same room, totally different mood")

The whole loop takes about 30 seconds. The story is: one engine, three venues, any design option, deployed over a QR code.

QR code setup

The repo contains pre-generated QR codes:

  • qr.png — PNG for slide decks, print, web
  • qr.svg — vector for large-format print

Both point to https://ibrews.github.io/holodeck-pocket/.

To regenerate (e.g., if you change the URL):

npm run qr -- https://ibrews.github.io/holodeck-pocket/

For scene-specific QR codes (deep-link to a specific scene):

npm run qr -- https://ibrews.github.io/holodeck-pocket/#scene=carol

Slide deck size: QR code should be at least 4×4 cm / 1.5×1.5 inches at the resolution it'll be projected. Most phone cameras can scan from 3–5 meters at that size.

Scene selection by talk

Talk Recommended scene Scene URL
FMX 2026 (spatial storytelling) Carol — Stave 1 #scene=carol
NXT BLD 2026 (event venues) Four Seasons Lake Austin #scene=four-seasons
Either (productization punchline) D&D Encounter #scene=dnd

Audience expectations: set them correctly

What this IS:

  • A walk-around 3D viewer
  • Design-option toggles (lighting, layout, materials)
  • Works on any modern phone browser (Chrome/Safari)
  • Optional immersive VR on Meta Quest

What this IS NOT:

  • A shared/multiplayer holodeck (each phone is its own session)
  • Live streaming of the presenter's perspective
  • Persistent rooms (no state is saved between sessions)
  • A finished product (it's a technology demo)

Do not promise: "you're all in the same room together." Each person has their own local session. The "holodeck" metaphor is about the design workflow, not real-time presence.

Troubleshooting

Phone shows a blank screen or spins forever:

  • Wait 5–10 seconds — first load on a cold connection can be slow (≈6MB bundle + models)
  • Check the venue WiFi: some conference networks block GitHub Pages CDN. Ask IT to whitelist *.github.io and *.githubusercontent.com
  • Fallback: show screenshots from public/screenshots/ directly in the slide deck

"WebXR not supported" on the button:

  • Expected on most iPhones — iOS Safari doesn't support immersive-vr WebXR
  • The inline 3D viewer still works perfectly on iPhone
  • Only Meta Quest (and some Android Chrome) support the "Enter VR" button

3D renders but nothing moves (controls stuck):

  • Touch device: joystick requires a long-press to activate on first touch
  • iOS: disable "Reduce Motion" in Accessibility settings if the scene looks frozen

Canvas is black on Android:

  • Rare GPU driver issue on older Android devices — refresh the page once
  • If it persists, use the screenshot fallback in your slides

Backup plan

If the network is down or the site is unreachable:

  1. Open the site on your own phone before the talk and leave the tab open (it caches)
  2. Have public/screenshots/ open in a Photos app as a static slideshow
  3. npm run preview serves locally — you can serve from your laptop's hotspot

Adjusting for the venue

If the audience is large (conference hall) and QR scanning is impractical for everyone:

  • Show the direct URL in text: ibrews.github.io/holodeck-pocket
  • Designate 3–5 "audience volunteers" to scan and walk around while you narrate
  • The design-option toggles still tell the story even if only one person is navigating

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