Lumen
Try Lumen ↗Unreal's real-time lighting, rebuilt for the browser
I set out to reverse-engineer Unreal Engine's Lumen, its real-time global illumination, and rebuild it for the browser in WebGPU. Three apartments run on it today. Pick one and walk through it.
- Type
- Web 3D · Archviz
- My role
- Technical Artist · Engine Developer, end to end
- Stack
- WebGPU · Three.js · real-time GI · baked lightmaps
- Live
- Open ↗
The Loft
Double-height brick loft with a mezzanine and a floating stair.
Open Concept
Open-plan flat with a kitchen island and cove lighting.
The Bedroom
Bedroom suite with a balcony, a fireplace and a desk corner.
The idea
Unreal's Lumen lights a scene in real time, bounce light included. I wanted the same in a browser tab, with no install.
What it does
Real-time global illumination with time of day, or baked lightmaps, in one client.
Each scene has named views, 8 lighting presets from morning to night, paint dots that change wall and furniture finishes, and walk or fly controls. Render tiers run from Lite to Insane so it adapts to the device.
Performance
3–5 ms of GPU time per frame at the top quality tier.
Try Lumen ↗