Customer Spotlight: Spatial Explorer and the Future of Immersive Entertainment

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Dan Zeitman, founder of Spatial Explorer, has spent his career at the intersection of immersive technology and entertainment. Before launching his own venture, he worked at Bose where he played a key role in developing an immersive audio AR application for Star Wars. The project, which saw over 100,000 downloads in 90 days, showcased the power of spatial audio and interactive storytelling. 

“Even though the setup times for these experiences can be long, the engagement we’ve seen proves the demand is there.” Zeitman noted.

Dan later joined Dolby, eventually taking a hands-on role to help develop a realtime streaming plugin for game engines. The plug-in enabled developers the ability to stream video in and out of VR headsets with extreme low latency and 5.1 audio support.  

After several formative years learning about game engine based immersive experiences at Bose and Dolby, Zeitman finally took the opportunity to start Spatial Explorer, driven by a vision to make immersive experience creation more accessible.

“I love building these experiences, but game engines suck in simple terms. It’s a lot of effort to build stuff in a game engine.” 

His frustration with the complexity of traditional development tools led him to create a new approach, focusing on lightweight immersive experiences that integrate seamlessly with platforms like Apple Vision Pro. 

“I started thinking about all of the lightweight experiences that we see—from theme parks to webXR—and realized there’s got to be a better way.”

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Solving the Challenges of Immersive Content

Spatial Explorer is dedicated to revolutionizing the way immersive experiences are built, particularly in the music and entertainment industries. One of the biggest challenges Zeitman and his team have tackled is the large file sizes associated with high-quality immersive content, often exceeding 2GB. These massive files impact accessibility and user experience, causing slow downloads and load times.

To address this, they’ve explored solutions like Gaussian splatting technology, which reduces file sizes while maintaining high fidelity. They are also leveraging AI-powered content creation tools to speed up development without sacrificing quality. 

“We need better ways to create content faster—whether it's using AI or streamlining workflows like going straight from Blender into Vision Pro,” Zeitman explained.

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A New Era for Immersive Music and Entertainment

The vision for Spatial Explorer extends beyond solving technical challenges. Zeitman aims to build a platform that enables artists, creators, and brands to craft engaging immersive experiences without the steep learning curve of traditional game engines. The company is particularly focused on music and entertainment applications, with a goal of making interactive content as seamless to create as a music video or live event production.

Zeitman discussed how Cybever’s technology has the capacity to accelerate Spatial Explorer’s workflow by enabling faster 3D environment creation. Zeitman is particularly interested in taking scenes generated within Cybever and exporting it as a USDZ file for testing on the Apple Vision Pro. His goal is to optimize the USDZ workflow, making it more efficient and seamless. By integrating Cybever’s capabilities into his pipeline, he sees an opportunity to significantly streamline the creation of immersive experiences.

As Spatial Explorer continues to grow, Zeitman remains focused on expanding the accessibility of immersive content creation. He acknowledges the current limitations of devices like the Apple Vision Pro but remains optimistic about future developments, including lighter and more affordable headsets. Additionally, he recognizes industry-wide challenges such as high development costs and the need for more developers to support the immersive tech ecosystem.

For now, Spatial Explorer is carving out its niche by prioritizing fast, high-quality content creation and making immersive experiences more attainable for creators. With a strong foundation and forward-thinking approach, Zeitman’s company is poised to shape the future of entertainment in ways that go beyond what’s currently possible.

Curious to learn more about where Immersive Audio is headed? Watch Dan join a panel of industry leaders at SFJAZZ on April 17th at 6PM. Register here.

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