SensAI Hack 2025, Runner-Up (AI with Camera Access)
Ethan Soo
XR Software Engineer
Based in Los Angeles, CA
Ships VR and AR end to end: Symphoni, a top-rated Meta Quest rhythm title led with a three-person team; Neon City on the Meta Rift Store; AR tennis coaching prototyped on HoloLens and Magic Leap and delivered to the US national tennis team; a CARLA driving simulation in Unreal Engine and C++. Unity, Unreal Engine, C++ and C#.
Featured Projects
Featured Projects, Clients, and Contributions
Symphoni
Led end-to-end development of Symphoni, a VR rhythm game where players conduct classical music by swinging their hands in time with the music, launched on the Meta Quest Store in March 2025 with a three-person team.
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Symphoni Composer
Designed and architected Symphoni Composer, a desktop level editor and user-generated-content engine where players chart notes and keyframe visuals to their own songs and publish levels through mod.io, built by a three-person team with one month to beta.
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Years of Experience
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Years with Unity
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Years with VR Development
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Years with C++
Career Timeline
An Overview of My Career.
2026
Co-Founder, Lead Engineer
techToy Studio, Los Angeles, CA
- Led end-to-end development of Symphoni, a VR rhythm title launched on the Meta Quest Store in March 2025, with a three-person team.
- Symphoni carried the Meta Quest Store's top-rated badge and, backed by Meta's launch support, was featured exclusively in the store through its launch month.
- Optimized Symphoni for Quest 2, holding 72+ fps on all five supported headsets, and cut full asset and music load from over 30 seconds to under a second.
- Shipped Symphoni with both hand tracking and controllers: designed around hand tracking for expressiveness, with controllers added for input latency, and haptic feedback per note.
- Designed and architected Symphoni Composer, a user-generated-content engine and level editor, on DSP-timed music data, an event bus, a command system with undo, and a packaged project format, built by a 3-person team with one month to beta.
2024
Research Software Engineer
USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
- Led the design and development of a VR car driving simulation used for eye-tracking research at an automotive research lab.
- Built VR driving-simulation features on the CARLA simulator using Unreal Engine's C++ and Python APIs, reproducing real-world driving scenarios against simulated sensor data.
2023
AR Gameplay Software Engineer
Genies, Los Angeles, CA
- Led end-to-end development and launch of a geolocated AR game in Unity built on Genies' SDK, focused on its gameplay and mechanics, integrating GPS mapping with real-world interactions.
Full-Stack Software Engineer (Contract)
Santa Fe VIP Tours, Remote
- Core developer of a cross-platform iOS and Android app in Unity that delivered thousands of guided AR tours.
2022
VR Software Engineer
USC Immersive Media Lab, Los Angeles, CA
- Developed an immersive VR car driving simulation and virtual showroom in Unreal Engine and C++ for Mercedes-Benz and Kia.
AR/VR Subject Matter Expert
Emeritus, Remote
- Served as a VR subject matter expert for MIT xPro's VR Development program.
Contract Software Engineer & Project Manager
AR Tennis, Remote
- Directed a team of two to three AR Unity developers through rapid prototyping and development of a tennis coaching application for HoloLens.
- Engineered a virtual target training system delivered through the client to the US national tennis team, integrating Unity with HoloLens, Magic Leap, and Nreal.
2019
Software Engineer & Games UI Designer (Contract)
Iron Rebellion, Remote
- Worked with an international team of about 6 developers and a community of 400+ beta playtesters on Iron Rebellion, a VR mech game released commercially on Steam.
VR Mentor Lead
Udacity, Remote
- Selected to lead and mentor two Udacity VR programs at once, the VR High Immersion and VR Mobile 360 Nanodegrees, guiding 10+ students per cohort through their capstone projects.
Present
Independent Software Engineer
Independent, Remote
- Core contributor on 50+ AR/VR client projects, primarily in C++ and C#, shipping features and end-to-end products through to delivery across a range of industries.
- Wrote authoritative multiplayer servers for client projects with Photon Fusion and Unity Netcode, including a VR traffic-management training simulation for road construction workers.
- Maintained a VR training simulation for children with sickle cell disease at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, contracted through Agency 39A.
Tech Stack
Skills I have Hands-On Experience with
Unity
C#
C++
Unreal Engine
VR Development
AR Development
Meta XR SDK
OpenXR
HoloLens
Magic Leap
MRTK
AR Foundation
Multiplayer Networking
Photon
CARLA
GPU Optimization
Qualifications
Certifications and Awards
Meta Quest Presence Platform Hackathon, 1st Place (Games)
DreamXR Hackathon, Finalist (Meli Music)
VR Software Development Nanodegree
Contact Me
Questions, opportunities, or just to say hi — let’s chat!
