Building NE9: A Runtime and App for AI-Driven Interactive 3D and XR Worlds

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share what I’m currently building and open it up for discussion.

I’m developing NE9, also known as NastyEngine 9. It’s a modular, real-time runtime designed to integrate AI systems, 3D environments, and interactive applications into a single live pipeline.

Alongside NE9, I’m building a companion app that interfaces directly with the runtime. The goal is to use it as a control and integration layer where scene logic, agents, and interaction can be composed and updated live instead of being locked into a traditional editor workflow.

The core idea is to treat AI, rendering, networking, and interaction as runtime-orchestrated systems rather than isolated tools. This approach makes it easier to experiment, iterate, and eventually extend into XR and VR environments.

This is an active build and the architecture is evolving quickly. I’ll be sharing progress, experiments, and lessons learned as things continue to come together.

This screenshot shows where we are right now in the development process. This was our first full session using Meta Quest 3 connected to our desktop via USB, running the Meta desktop app as our development workspace. We were viewing and working directly with our existing tools inside the headset to get a real sense of scale, comfort, and workflow.

It was our first serious hands-on development session this way, and getting our feet wet was a lot of fun. Even just working from the desktop inside the headset made it clear that this is a platform we’re excited to build for.

We’re looking forward to transitioning from desktop-based development into deeper Horizon and native XR workflows as NE9 continues to evolve.

If you’d like to connect, feel free to check out my LinkedIn. Thanks for stopping by, and I’m excited to see what we can build together.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-harris-0745b8374/