Starting life as a 3D modelling tool, more akin to Adobe Medium and Google Blocks, ShapesXR has seen rapid development—so rapid that it caught me unaware towards the end of the project. I’ll get into that more in the feelings section, beginning with the modelling tools. ShapesXR is used to create objects and environments. Although it is entirely based around primitives, there is a great deal of sophistication in the app’s tools for manipulating those shapes, making it a powerful 3D modelling tool. Shapes can not only be resized, rotated, and precisely positioned, but they can also be bent, and bevels added to corners directly through the interface.
However, we are not confined to the built-in tools. ShapesXR enables us to import common 3D model files from various other sources, giving us several options for rapid environment creation.
Much of this functionality was present in the earlier version I’ve been using for some time; however, the user interface has improved significantly during this period and is now very intuitive. In addition, the developers have added a lot of interactive features that were not present in version one, making it possible to create interactive and immersive environments entirely within ShapesXR. In that sense, it is a solid competitor to Spatial.io now.
Feelings
When I first used ShapesXR, I was not tremendously impressed. At the time, the market was fairly flush with 3D modelling VR apps that used extrusion-based interfaces and lacked basic interaction capability. In version 1.0, it was another clunky world builder, with an interface and workflow that suggested a small team of development-focused programmers.
In version 2, released in 2024, ShapesXR demonstrates that it is possible to build 3D authoring tools within VR. If I were in charge of developing the building tools for Horizon Worlds, for example, I would be looking very closely at ShapesXR. Its user interface is very familiar, but the tools are much easier to use and more flexible. A combination of ShapesXR’s building and programming environments with Meta Horizon Worlds’ deployment at scale would be unbeatable.
Evaluation
The two main deployment tools that still interest me are Spatial and ShapesXR, so comparisons between them are inevitable. The bottom line is that ShapesXR is the superior development tool from a 3D modelling and interaction perspective, while Spatial.io is the superior deployment tool. This boils down to decisions made about access to individual tools and the generosity of the developers.
While both can be used to create environments and deploy them with a single URL, Spatial’s free model enables unlimited spaces with a cap on the number of people who can access them. In contrast, ShapesXR limits the number of spaces that a creator can have live at any one time to three. It does not publish pricing structures for the next levels of creation—Team and Enterprise—suggesting that these will be expensive. Similarly, the Education edition of the subscription is not advertised.
If there were a method to easily export environments built in ShapesXR, I would be more comfortable using it to develop environments I intended to deploy at scale. However, it points towards a potential authoring tool for the rapid creation of immersive journalism and demonstrates that this is indeed possible.
Application
Because ShapesXR offers a combination of solid and usable 3D modelling tools that can be used to create environments and supports multiple media formats, including MP4 movies and 3D models, it is already a solid tool for recreating real environments that might be conducive to building immersive journalism. Additionally, it includes interaction capabilities which would enable a developer to create branching narratives and objects that respond to player interaction.
Conclusions
Although there are issues with deployment at the moment for ShapesXR, the strength of the authoring tools is so good that it is worth continuing to develop for and with. With some tools, it seems like it is only a matter of time before the developers will run out of funding or ideas, whereas with ShapesXR, this is a highly polished product already in version 2. It seems like it is only a matter of time before its marketers realise there is potential for it to be used for the rapid creation of VR games and experiences at a more affordable rate.