iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 24/09/2026

Want to inspect #MaterialX materials in your coding IDE? Try my new #ThreeJS-based MaterialX Viewer extension for VSCode and Cursor: marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemNa... open-vsx.org/extension/be...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 09/09/2026

Neural Texture Compression (NTC) for #ThreeJS. NTC shrinks material sizes by 90% by compressing all textures together into a single compact neural network. This is also the first open-source NTC implementation. Trainer + #ThreeJS runtime library here: three-ntc.ben3d.ca

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 08/09/2026

Web3D Survey's new GPU benchmarking page now has a sharable results URL. Here is mine: web3dsurvey.com/benchmark/40...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 05/09/2026

Finally you can get some solid numbers on #WebGPU performance. Web3D Survey gets a statistically sound benchmark: web3dsurvey.com/benchmark Aggregation numbers coming soon. How do you measure up?

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 03/09/2026

Introducing "Three-LLM" A #WebGPU LLM inference engine build upon #ThreeJS's compute / TSL (thanks sunag!) that directly loads Hugging Face models, including Qwen, Phi, Smol & GPT2. three-llm.ben3d.ca

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 31/08/2026

Added physically-based Location + Date Time aware sun positioning to mrdoob's new #ThreeJS sunlight. Much easier to simulate day/night cycles than trying to figure out how to move the sun via manual azimuth/elevation modification. github.com/mrdoob/three...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 27/08/2026

New #ThreeJS PR: A #WebGPU-native 2D Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) helper via the Stockham algorithm. Full details here, including an interactive convolution example: github.com/mrdoob/three...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 12/08/2026

Today, I added support for Niantic Spatial, Inc.'s SPZ V4 this morning to #ThreeJS's gaussian splatting #gs3d implementation. Reduces file size 30% and 1.5x faster loading. github.com/mrdoob/three...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 11/08/2026

Just added view dependent rendering of Gaussian Splats via Spherical Harmonics (up to SH3) to #ThreeJS in this PR: github.com/mrdoob/three... #gs3d

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 03/07/2026

Wrote a minimal, extensible Gaussian Splat renderer PR for @ThreeJS using TSL for sorting, vertex processing and fragment shading + instances. It separates the GS3D data structure from the loader and from the renderer. github.com/mrdoob/three...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 03/07/2026

Updated web3dsurvey.com, the WebGL, WebGL2 and WebGPU extension and feature tracker with a more informative homepage and added some new browser statistics.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 03/07/2026

Quick little PR to @ThreeJS to add support for retroreflective materials via the Minimal Retroreflective Microfacet Model. github.com/mrdoob/three...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 14/06/2026

Proof of Possession: How to solve rampant developer token thief: ben3d.ca/blog/proof-o...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 23/05/2026

My painting of Ghibli-style dust gremlins for our 3 year old who loves Totoro. Simple but she thinks having them looking over her at night is “awesome!”

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 27/04/2026

Preparing a major PR to improve #ThreeJS MaterialX support significantly. In order to perfect it, I've written an open source @materialx.bsky.social Fidelity Suite inspired by the @khronos.org / @gltf.bsky.social fidelity tool: material-fidelity.ben3d.ca

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 09/04/2026

Beta 4 of my project "Land of Assets" is live. New features: - Robust task system at extreme scale. - Webhooks for automations. - Server event streaming for tasks. - New design aesthetic across the board. landofassets.com/blog/beta_4

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 05/03/2026

HDRify, the JavaScript/TypeScript native HDR and EXR library gets luminance EXR loader support with version 0.11.0. Thank you "krapnikkk" on Github: github.com/bhouston/hdr... Try it out here: hdrify.benhouston3d.com?image=%2Fexa...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 27/02/2026

Beta 3 of LandOfAssets.com is live. Supports uploads of Blender .blend and USD .usdz files automated conversion between all formats. KTX2 and MeshOpt optimized GLBs now also supported. landofassets.com/blog/beta_3

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 20/02/2026

Zstdify: A Pure TypeScrpt Zstd Re-Implementation Pure JavaScript/TypeScript zstd compression/decompression library. No native dependencies, works in Node.js and browsers. github.com/bhouston/zst...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 20/02/2026

And MacOS Preview will actually load the UltraHDR jpegs produced by hdrify as BT 2020 images that have bit depth 10. It was a little tricky to figure out how to get Preview to recognize them and I think its tonemapping in the preview app is poor but it does work.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 20/02/2026

HDRify, the pure JavaScript implementation of EXR, HDR, and UltraHDR Jpgs, now has its own VSCode & Cursor extensions. Preview (with tone mapping/exposure) and convert between HDR, EXR and UltraHDR Jpgs. marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemNa... open-vsx.org/extension/be...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 19/02/2026

Explaner: Why "Land of Assets" Standardizes on glTF for the Master Asset benhouston3d.com/blog/why-lan... #3d #gltf #landofassets

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 19/02/2026

LandOfAssets Beta 2: - Support for environment map assets: EXR, HDR (via hdrify) - Asset creation wizard - Signup/login via Google - Improved styling across the board. landofassets.com

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 12/02/2026

HDRify, the JavaScript library for reading/writing EXR, HDR, and UltraHDR, gets a website: hdrify.benhouston3d.com Load, convert, and preview your high dynamic range images in the browser in real-time.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 09/02/2026

FYI Github only has 93% uptime the last month, it is becoming a liability to rely upon it for production needs: mrshu.github.io/github-statu...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 03/02/2026

Excited to share Land of Assets, a new project I've created: landofassets.com It's 3D asset infrastructure designed for developers working with glTF. Think GitHub for your 3D models: versioning, CDN delivery, and a typed SDK. Free for public assets. Looking for initial testers now.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 27/01/2026

Using real-time Wifi monitor PingBar for MacOS from elitasson and loving it. Try it yourself: "brew install --cask elitan/tap/pingbar" Github repo here: github.com/elitan/ping-...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 20/01/2026

Why I Stopped Creating package.json Scripts Over the past year, I've dramatically reduced the number of scripts in my package.json files. What started as a gradual shift has become a deliberate practice: minimize abstractions, maximize clarity. benhouston3d.com/blog/stopped...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 14/01/2026

Bough a cheap thermal camera and found out that my metal door to the garage is one of the major sources of heat loss. First pic is from garage side and second is from inside the house. It is a heat transfer device.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 14/01/2026

How I re-wired my home's HVAC to maximize my @Ecobee's control capabilities. benhouston3d.com/blog/upgradi...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 13/08/2025

New #ThreeJS PR: high quality 3D procedural wood materials via TSL. Includes maple, oak, walnut, cedar, poplar, cherry wood types and also includes raw + coating variants. Full detais: github.com/mrdoob/three...

A series of wood blocks of different wood types and finishes.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 21/07/2025

New Github PR to #ThreeJS that adds much improved #MaterialX support. New nodes & properties supported: thin film, sheen, transmission, rotate, determine, inverse, floor, reflect, refract, opacity, specular, anisotropy, etc... Full details: github.com/mrdoob/three...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 03/06/2025

Having fun this evening making passion fruit ice cream. #parenting

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 25/05/2025

Victoria Day Fireworks captured on my DJI Neo drone. #drone #dji #djineo

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 23/05/2025

Three hard-won lessons for entrepreneurs I learned in my journey from VFX to Enterprise SaaS. My talk at the Ottawa Network last night (May 22, 2025) benhouston3d.com/blog/lession...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 08/04/2025

Yum! Buffalo and honey garlic wings for supper.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 07/04/2025

I wrote this for myself but figured I would share it: TanStack Router provides powerful data loading capabilities through its beforeLoad and loader functions. Understanding their behavior is critical for effective use of TanStack Router in your projects. benhouston3d.com/blog/tanstac...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 26/03/2025

Having fun with AI image generation/editing from real photos.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 25/03/2025

The Rise of "Test Theater": Enabled by AI AI coding assistants are excellent at generating tests with high coverage. But there's often a critical problem: they're testing that code behaves as written, not as intended. This "Test Theater" creates a dangerous illusion.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 24/03/2025

Israel killed Hossam Shabat (below) one of the last remaining journalists in Northern Gaza today in a targeted strike. He in his early twenties. He worked for Al Jazeera. This is likely preparation for the ethnic cleansing of Northern Gaza by Israel per: www.972mag.com/israel-trump...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 21/03/2025

"Building an agentic coder from scratch." A write-up and slide deck from my talk last night at Ottawa Forward JS. benhouston3d.com/blog/buildin...

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 19/03/2025

Amazing day of spring skiing at Mont Tremblant with my eldest daughter’s high school.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 16/03/2025

Two year old wanted a spider costume this afternoon. An Amazon box and some packing tape later and she was satisfied.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 13/03/2025

No joke: How I created went from idea to Github Issue to PR while waiting for my toddler to finish breakfast this morning: benhouston3d.com/blog/agentic... #agenticcoding #vibecoding #mycoder

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 09/03/2025

Enjoying a local sugar bush this morning!

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 07/03/2025

"GitHub Mode" is a game changer for Agentic Coding My recent addition of "GitHub Mode" to mycoder.ai this week has 3-5x my productivity. I've been so productive that it is almost disorienting. benhouston3d.com/blog/github-... (also here: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4329...)

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 07/03/2025

Again, can you tell when my coding agent started to really take off?

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 07/03/2025

I have +100 GitHub commits today for across 5 repositories and it is only 9am here. Why? I'm hitting my stride with mycoder.ai and its Github workflow. Previous record was 94 commits yesterday. Before agentic coding, a productive long day was ~30 commits.

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 05/03/2025

New homepage for mycoder.ai with the reasons why it makes you more productive:

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Ben Houston @ben3d.ca · 24/02/2025

Combining drone practice with hockey practice at the outdoor rink last night. #parenting.

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