Roblox is a human co-experience platform. We wish our customers to have the ability to expertise the total spectrum of social interactions in our immersive 3D experiences, with communication on Roblox mirroring all of the methods we talk in the true world. One of many cross-functional groups constructing this know-how on Roblox is the Consumer Group.
“We imagine that expressive and immersive communication is the long run,” stated Garima Sinha, Senior Director of Product. “We’re at that juncture the place the applied sciences that we’ve been engaged on for years are coming collectively. When you’re in a digital expertise, you’ll be able to see expressions. Quickly, you’ll be capable to really feel the physique language, the vibe of individuals being in the identical room.”
The Consumer Group’s imaginative and prescient is to allow one billion folks to speak, play, be taught, and work collectively in high-quality immersive 3D experiences. “[Our vision] has stayed fairly constant over the previous three years,” stated Philippe Clavel, Senior Director of Engineering. “We need to construct a platform that empowers folks to attach and interact collectively.”
However as Philippe explains, constructing it in the proper means is simply as vital as getting the know-how behind it working. “Roblox is inherently a social product. There’s nonetheless a lot potential for what it may do. However we additionally need to ensure that we’re constructing our merchandise in a protected and civil means.”
Collectively, Garima and Philippe lead groups throughout the broader Consumer Group at Roblox which might be tackling a few of Roblox’s hardest technical challenges to carry this imaginative and prescient to life. To be taught extra about what they’re as much as, we spoke with them and two different members of the Consumer Group: Principal Product Supervisor Effie Goenawan and Engineering Supervisor Irene Nguyen.
The Technical Challenges Behind Digital Communication and Connection
Philippe reminisced on a second from his Roblox job interview. “Throughout my interview, CEO and Co-Founder Dave Baszucki defined to me that within the 3D world, you might be and work together with anybody. However earlier than you are able to do that, you have to be capable to talk successfully. Our imaginative and prescient is to allow and mimic real-world communication.”
By including voice communication to our Chat characteristic, we’re getting nearer to this imaginative and prescient. This new performance permits customers 13 and older to speak utilizing their voice in Roblox experiences. The know-how is proximity-based and simulates lifelike communication.
The Consumer Group, together with cross-functional efforts from the Security and Engine Teams, has tackled a number of technical challenges to carry Chat with voice to life – one of many hardest being constructing the structure. “Constructing the know-how behind Chat with voice is inherently advanced. To make it really feel immersive and mirror real-world communication, we allow sound in order that it’s tied to your avatar’s location inside a 3D house. You need others who’re close to you to listen to you – not these far-off,” stated Philippe.
“On high of that, after we deploy new options, it’s to hundreds of thousands of customers throughout the globe. We made positive to deploy this new service on the edge to ensure that our voice servers are near our customers. We wish you to have a superb dialogue wherever you’re.”
Making certain that we constructed this characteristic with security and civility in thoughts can be a important technical problem. “Our high precedence is ensuring that we roll out Chat with voice safely and responsibly. Whereas we’ve already applied sturdy security options (e.g. moderation instruments), we’re additionally know-how options to make sure security and civility on our platform,” stated Effie.
Tradition of Innovation within the Consumer Group
Whereas our firm values act as a information anybody can use to unravel our technical challenges, every staff brings its personal collaborative and artistic strategy to growing revolutionary options. Listed here are a number of the ways in which the Consumer Group comes collectively to drive a tradition of innovation for Roblox.
Fixing robust technical challenges is what motivates them.
Discovering the proper resolution to technical challenges isn’t clear or simple. Effie encourages her staff to go away no stone unturned when looking for options.
When it entails fixing for security and civility, “One simple resolution could be to spend plenty of time and sources on guide moderation, however we’re liable for making the proper choices for our staff and the enterprise. That’s why we’re beginning to take a look at ways in which we will sort out this downside with the perfect know-how options to help our moderation efforts.” A kind of technical challenges is moderating the Chat with voice characteristic.

Garima Sinha with colleague Effie Goenawan catch up outdoors of our workplaces
“We want to have the ability to detect and take motion in actual time to make sure the protection of our neighborhood,” stated Garima. “These are exhausting technical issues that nobody within the trade has solved but. What makes the tradition of our staff distinctive is that all of us have the drive to make it occur. We’re fixing a number of the hardest issues on the planet. And our folks take numerous delight in fixing these exhausting issues.”
Iteration is what helps them develop nice options.
Even when going through blockers, the Consumer Group has stored its eye on the ball. For Irene Nguyen, growing MVPs (Minimal Viable Product) and proofs of idea is a part of the method. As an Engineering Supervisor on the Connections Staff throughout the Consumer Group, Irene helps customers’ skills to attach, expertise, and create reminiscences with buddies. One technical problem her staff helps to unravel is enabling video seize performance throughout the Roblox platform. Her staff’s aim is to allow customers to shortly and simply share nice moments from Roblox with their buddies.
“What are our present limitations in video high quality? What does this imply throughout units? Efficiency? We need to construct it proper and construct it for all.” Figuring out the place to start might be overwhelming, however sustaining an iterative mindset helps Irene and her staff stability priorities and ahead momentum.
“We have to establish our place to begin, be clear about our imaginative and prescient, after which lay out the steps wanted to construct an MVP that may get us there. By following that course of, the staff is ready to see and get actually pumped about what’s attainable.” She remembers, “some folks equate an MVP with a hack or workaround resolution. As an alternative, I consider it as a means for us to show the viability of no matter we’re engaged on. Iteration is how we find yourself with an amazing resolution.”
Open communication and collaboration allow anybody to share new concepts and downside remedy.
What’s the secret to sparking innovation throughout the staff? Philippe thinks that it’s fostering a bottom-up growth tradition, encouraging open communication, and asking the proper questions.
“You don’t rent sensible folks to inform them what to do. You rent sensible folks, so that they let you know. As a supervisor, my job is to assist our staff by asking constructive questions,” stated Philippe. “This model has helped our staff search higher options and obtain outcomes. Asking questions permits our staff members to consider issues otherwise. I discover that they converse up about their views. And most significantly, they freely share after they disagree.”
Lately, Philippe’s staff debated how they need to render spatial audio (the know-how powering Chat with voice). “Say that you just’re within the expertise together with your avatar. Ought to we render the audio as whether it is coming to your avatar’s ears or to the sport digicam? There was a really sturdy argument for each methods, so we solved for each and voted on what felt finest. And, in true Roblox vogue, we additionally enable builders to customise it and alter the default setting.”

Philippe Clavel & Irene Nguyen discussing a current challenge
The Consumer Group has additionally began to host inside tech talks to foster communication and collaboration. In Irene’s phrases, “We take delight in knowledge-sharing throughout the varied groups within the Consumer Group. They [tech talks] are a means that all of us keep linked and share what’s occurring throughout our staff. Doing this has led us to tackling different massive questions.”
These tech talks have had different advantages, particularly for junior members. Anybody is ready to apply their public talking expertise, exhibit what they’ve been constructing, and even get real-time suggestions.
“There can by no means be too many boards for folks to showcase what they’re constructing,” says Irene. “We’re hoping to develop the tech talks and make them even greater in 2023.”
Be a part of the Staff Serving to to Form the Way forward for Human Connection and Communication.
The Consumer Group has formidable plans for 2023. So what are a number of the causes that you just’d need to be a part of the staff? For Effie, it’s the chance to make an impression. “The issue house that you’ve the potential to impression is large. Whether or not it’s technical, machine studying, optimization, consumer expertise, and even coverage, we’re leaders in an trade the place there’s such a greenfield of issues which have by no means been solved.”
Need to be taught extra about what the Consumer Group is engaged on? Tune in to the newest Roblox Tech Talks Podcast to take heed to a dialog between Garima and CEO Dave Baszucki on the way forward for communication on Roblox.
Staff Behind the Tech is a behind-the-scenes take a look at how our groups sort out their hardest technical challenges and what it reveals concerning the tradition, folks, and values behind our revolutionary applied sciences. If these sound just like the challenges and alternatives you need to tackle, take a look at our out there roles for the Consumer Group and be taught extra at careers.roblox.com.
Roblox is a human co-experience platform. We wish our customers to have the ability to expertise the total spectrum of social interactions in our immersive 3D experiences, with communication on Roblox mirroring all of the methods we talk in the true world. One of many cross-functional groups constructing this know-how on Roblox is the Consumer Group.
“We imagine that expressive and immersive communication is the long run,” stated Garima Sinha, Senior Director of Product. “We’re at that juncture the place the applied sciences that we’ve been engaged on for years are coming collectively. When you’re in a digital expertise, you’ll be able to see expressions. Quickly, you’ll be capable to really feel the physique language, the vibe of individuals being in the identical room.”
The Consumer Group’s imaginative and prescient is to allow one billion folks to speak, play, be taught, and work collectively in high-quality immersive 3D experiences. “[Our vision] has stayed fairly constant over the previous three years,” stated Philippe Clavel, Senior Director of Engineering. “We need to construct a platform that empowers folks to attach and interact collectively.”
However as Philippe explains, constructing it in the proper means is simply as vital as getting the know-how behind it working. “Roblox is inherently a social product. There’s nonetheless a lot potential for what it may do. However we additionally need to ensure that we’re constructing our merchandise in a protected and civil means.”
Collectively, Garima and Philippe lead groups throughout the broader Consumer Group at Roblox which might be tackling a few of Roblox’s hardest technical challenges to carry this imaginative and prescient to life. To be taught extra about what they’re as much as, we spoke with them and two different members of the Consumer Group: Principal Product Supervisor Effie Goenawan and Engineering Supervisor Irene Nguyen.
The Technical Challenges Behind Digital Communication and Connection
Philippe reminisced on a second from his Roblox job interview. “Throughout my interview, CEO and Co-Founder Dave Baszucki defined to me that within the 3D world, you might be and work together with anybody. However earlier than you are able to do that, you have to be capable to talk successfully. Our imaginative and prescient is to allow and mimic real-world communication.”
By including voice communication to our Chat characteristic, we’re getting nearer to this imaginative and prescient. This new performance permits customers 13 and older to speak utilizing their voice in Roblox experiences. The know-how is proximity-based and simulates lifelike communication.
The Consumer Group, together with cross-functional efforts from the Security and Engine Teams, has tackled a number of technical challenges to carry Chat with voice to life – one of many hardest being constructing the structure. “Constructing the know-how behind Chat with voice is inherently advanced. To make it really feel immersive and mirror real-world communication, we allow sound in order that it’s tied to your avatar’s location inside a 3D house. You need others who’re close to you to listen to you – not these far-off,” stated Philippe.
“On high of that, after we deploy new options, it’s to hundreds of thousands of customers throughout the globe. We made positive to deploy this new service on the edge to ensure that our voice servers are near our customers. We wish you to have a superb dialogue wherever you’re.”
Making certain that we constructed this characteristic with security and civility in thoughts can be a important technical problem. “Our high precedence is ensuring that we roll out Chat with voice safely and responsibly. Whereas we’ve already applied sturdy security options (e.g. moderation instruments), we’re additionally know-how options to make sure security and civility on our platform,” stated Effie.
Tradition of Innovation within the Consumer Group
Whereas our firm values act as a information anybody can use to unravel our technical challenges, every staff brings its personal collaborative and artistic strategy to growing revolutionary options. Listed here are a number of the ways in which the Consumer Group comes collectively to drive a tradition of innovation for Roblox.
Fixing robust technical challenges is what motivates them.
Discovering the proper resolution to technical challenges isn’t clear or simple. Effie encourages her staff to go away no stone unturned when looking for options.
When it entails fixing for security and civility, “One simple resolution could be to spend plenty of time and sources on guide moderation, however we’re liable for making the proper choices for our staff and the enterprise. That’s why we’re beginning to take a look at ways in which we will sort out this downside with the perfect know-how options to help our moderation efforts.” A kind of technical challenges is moderating the Chat with voice characteristic.

Garima Sinha with colleague Effie Goenawan catch up outdoors of our workplaces
“We want to have the ability to detect and take motion in actual time to make sure the protection of our neighborhood,” stated Garima. “These are exhausting technical issues that nobody within the trade has solved but. What makes the tradition of our staff distinctive is that all of us have the drive to make it occur. We’re fixing a number of the hardest issues on the planet. And our folks take numerous delight in fixing these exhausting issues.”
Iteration is what helps them develop nice options.
Even when going through blockers, the Consumer Group has stored its eye on the ball. For Irene Nguyen, growing MVPs (Minimal Viable Product) and proofs of idea is a part of the method. As an Engineering Supervisor on the Connections Staff throughout the Consumer Group, Irene helps customers’ skills to attach, expertise, and create reminiscences with buddies. One technical problem her staff helps to unravel is enabling video seize performance throughout the Roblox platform. Her staff’s aim is to allow customers to shortly and simply share nice moments from Roblox with their buddies.
“What are our present limitations in video high quality? What does this imply throughout units? Efficiency? We need to construct it proper and construct it for all.” Figuring out the place to start might be overwhelming, however sustaining an iterative mindset helps Irene and her staff stability priorities and ahead momentum.
“We have to establish our place to begin, be clear about our imaginative and prescient, after which lay out the steps wanted to construct an MVP that may get us there. By following that course of, the staff is ready to see and get actually pumped about what’s attainable.” She remembers, “some folks equate an MVP with a hack or workaround resolution. As an alternative, I consider it as a means for us to show the viability of no matter we’re engaged on. Iteration is how we find yourself with an amazing resolution.”
Open communication and collaboration allow anybody to share new concepts and downside remedy.
What’s the secret to sparking innovation throughout the staff? Philippe thinks that it’s fostering a bottom-up growth tradition, encouraging open communication, and asking the proper questions.
“You don’t rent sensible folks to inform them what to do. You rent sensible folks, so that they let you know. As a supervisor, my job is to assist our staff by asking constructive questions,” stated Philippe. “This model has helped our staff search higher options and obtain outcomes. Asking questions permits our staff members to consider issues otherwise. I discover that they converse up about their views. And most significantly, they freely share after they disagree.”
Lately, Philippe’s staff debated how they need to render spatial audio (the know-how powering Chat with voice). “Say that you just’re within the expertise together with your avatar. Ought to we render the audio as whether it is coming to your avatar’s ears or to the sport digicam? There was a really sturdy argument for each methods, so we solved for each and voted on what felt finest. And, in true Roblox vogue, we additionally enable builders to customise it and alter the default setting.”

Philippe Clavel & Irene Nguyen discussing a current challenge
The Consumer Group has additionally began to host inside tech talks to foster communication and collaboration. In Irene’s phrases, “We take delight in knowledge-sharing throughout the varied groups within the Consumer Group. They [tech talks] are a means that all of us keep linked and share what’s occurring throughout our staff. Doing this has led us to tackling different massive questions.”
These tech talks have had different advantages, particularly for junior members. Anybody is ready to apply their public talking expertise, exhibit what they’ve been constructing, and even get real-time suggestions.
“There can by no means be too many boards for folks to showcase what they’re constructing,” says Irene. “We’re hoping to develop the tech talks and make them even greater in 2023.”
Be a part of the Staff Serving to to Form the Way forward for Human Connection and Communication.
The Consumer Group has formidable plans for 2023. So what are a number of the causes that you just’d need to be a part of the staff? For Effie, it’s the chance to make an impression. “The issue house that you’ve the potential to impression is large. Whether or not it’s technical, machine studying, optimization, consumer expertise, and even coverage, we’re leaders in an trade the place there’s such a greenfield of issues which have by no means been solved.”
Need to be taught extra about what the Consumer Group is engaged on? Tune in to the newest Roblox Tech Talks Podcast to take heed to a dialog between Garima and CEO Dave Baszucki on the way forward for communication on Roblox.
Staff Behind the Tech is a behind-the-scenes take a look at how our groups sort out their hardest technical challenges and what it reveals concerning the tradition, folks, and values behind our revolutionary applied sciences. If these sound just like the challenges and alternatives you need to tackle, take a look at our out there roles for the Consumer Group and be taught extra at careers.roblox.com.