UI framework and application model for Meta's novel AR/VR operating system.
I joined the former osmeta team—a stealth mobile software startup Facebook had acquired in 2013. Shortly after, the remnants of the team moved to the XROS project, a 300+ person effort to build a custom microkernel-based operating system for AR/VR devices. The goal was to give Meta tight control over every layer of its hardware. I served as team lead for a team of 5 building UI components and widgets like text, scrollviews, and the application model. The work was much more similar to working on distributed systems than working on traditional embedded systems, although we also faced unique hardware constraints particularly in our graphics rendering stack.
This work gave me an opportunity to dive deep into how operating systems work, developing new programming languages, how UI systems work, graphics rendering stacks, working with applications distributed across several processes, and where there is room to innovate and improve on the operating systems and application models of today especially as we eye potential for new application models in AR and VR including declarative UI and server-driven UI vs traditional UI kits.
The project was canceled in late 2021 and the team was disbanded in early 2022, with members moving to other Reality Labs efforts.