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Phygtl Inc

Founding Engineer Persistent Spatial Worlds (Unity + AI)

Posted Yesterday
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Remote
Hiring Remotely in United States
Senior level
Remote
Hiring Remotely in United States
Senior level
Lead Unity architecture and build persistent, multi-user spatial systems for mobile and wearables. Design spatial persistence, synchronization, AI-assisted content pipelines, and define long-term platform direction as a founding technical contributor.
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The Problem

Young people are more connected online than ever, yet lonelier than any generation before them.

Most digital platforms are designed for passive consumption on screens, pulling people away from the environments they live in.

We are exploring the opposite:

technology that brings people together in real-world environments.

To do that, software must understand place, not just users and clicks.

What We Are Building

Vyry builds context-aware AI quests that get students to meet IRL.

The system turns environments — starting with university campuses — into interactive canvases where students coordinate actions and co-create digital artifacts anchored to real locations.

We are in closed beta and measure strong signals:

  • 12k → 175k students reached in 2025

  • 25% of MAUs complete quests

  • pilots show up to 40% reduction in social isolation

The team combines consumer product, spatial, and game-world expertise, with former talents from: Roblox • Niantic • Ubisoft alongside a research layer that includes: 2 professors + 4 PhDs

The company is also part of:

Google AI Startup Program and prototyping on Meta’s invite-only Wearables SDK

What You Would Work On

Core product stack includes:

  • Unity real-time spatial environment layer

  • persistent digital artifacts anchored to real-world locations

  • multi-user spatial interaction systems

  • AI-assisted pipelines for generating spatial objects

Hard Problems We’re Exploring
  • Persistent spatial worlds — artifacts anchored to real places that persist across users, sessions, and devices

  • Multi-user spatial synchronization — ensuring multiple users see and interact with the same artifact in the same physical location

  • Mobile-first spatial computing — running tracking, rendering, anchors, and networking within phone and wearable hardware constraints

  • Real-time spatial rendering with AI context — Unity rendering environments in real time while receiving contextual input from large world models and action models

Role

We are looking for a senior Unity engineer who wants to become a founding technical contributor.

You would help:

  • shape Unity architecture

  • design spatial persistence systems

  • build multi-user spatial interaction systems

  • integrate AI-assisted development workflows

  • define the long-term technical direction of the platform

We are not looking for someone to simply use Unity.
We are looking for someone who wants to help define the architecture of a new spatial computing product category.

Compensation

This is an equity-first founding role.

Compensation is equity-only until our next funding round (target H2 2026).

You can join either:

  • Part-time, while keeping your current role

  • Full-time

Many experienced engineers start part-time first while evaluating the opportunity.

This role is designed for someone who wants to build a startup without having to start one alone from scratch.

Who This Is For

Engineers who:

  • have deep Unity experience (typically 8–10+ years)

  • have shipped complex real-time systems

  • enjoy architecting systems rather than just implementing features

  • are curious about AI integration into interactive environments

This often resonates with engineers who have spent years inside larger companies and want to build something meaningful with ownership.

Who This Is NOT For

Please do not apply if:

  • you are looking for a salaried job today

  • you want a freelance contract or short-term gig

  • you are bridging time until your next role

This is a founding role with startup emotions.

If Interested

Send:

  • GitHub or portfolio

  • examples of Unity systems you built

  • anything you’ve experimented with involving AI

Please also include short answers to the questions below.

PS: If you have spent years building complex Unity systems and occasionally think:

“If I were part of a startup, I would architect it differently.”

You are probably the person we are hoping reads this.

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