TykeAI — Sideloaded 3D MR/VR Companion (Quest 3)
Published · Researched 2026-09-20
Overview
TykeAI (tykeai.com) is a mixed-reality/VR AI companion for Meta Quest 3, distributed outside the official Quest Store via sideload (Unknown Sources/SideQuest) with Patreon login. Fully 3D avatars stand in your room through passthrough or in VR scenes, hold Convai-powered voice conversations, recall up to 1,000 previous conversations per avatar, navigate your room, see your screen/world, and share activities — movies, web browsing, chess, dancing, exercise, walks. Multiple avatars can even chat together with you (three-way conversation).
Social standing
Where people talk about it: the official site/blog, an independent Cram Gaming hands-on (crawled Sept 2026), YouTube Shorts demos, and the Patreon backer base. No Reddit community or Discord found in this pass — the audience is sideload-savvy Quest owners.
Consensus verdict: the enthusiast's MR companion — the most functionally ambitious Quest companion found (room navigation! multi-avatar chat! 1,000-conversation memory), praised by the one independent hands-on for running fully standalone and updating frequently. The price of admission is sideloading and Patreon gating, which caps the community to the committed.
Key social/press moments:
- Cram Gaming hands-on (crawled ~Sept 18, 2026): praised standalone operation and frequent developer updates; reported ~£3/$3.50/month Patreon pricing at publication.
- Official March 2026 setup instructions (PDF): five separate avatar apps, manual Patreon credential delivery, piracy-driven login controls — a developer fighting to get paid.
- YouTube Shorts demos show avatars in passthrough.
Main praise:
- Runs fully on-device/standalone (no PC VR needed).
- Feature depth unmatched in this lane: room navigation, world/screen vision, multi-avatar three-way chat, 1,000-conversation recall.
- Frequent updates per the hands-on.
Main complaints / failure modes:
- Sideload + Patreon login friction; manual credential delivery.
- Piracy controls suggest a cat-and-mouse with cracked copies — longevity risk if the dev burns out.
- Convai dependency: conversation quality rides on a third-party platform.
Key specs
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | TykeAI (indie; tykeai.com) |
| Platform | Meta Quest 3 (sideload via Unknown Sources/SideQuest); Quest Store presence UNVERIFIED |
| 3D tech | Fully 3D avatars in passthrough MR and VR scenes; room navigation |
| Voice | Convai-powered voice conversation |
| Chat/brain | Convai; up to 1,000 previous conversations recalled per avatar; multi-avatar three-way chat |
| Lip-sync | Not documented — UNVERIFIED |
| Expressions | Not documented — UNVERIFIED |
| Memory | Up to 1,000 previous conversations per avatar (per official site) |
| Vision | Screen/world vision; room navigation |
| Activities | Shared movies, browser, chess, dancing, exercise, walking |
| Status (Sept 20, 2026) | LIVE — hands-on coverage Sept 2026; March 2026 setup docs current |
Pricing
- ~£3 / $3.50 per month via Patreon — reported by the Cram Gaming hands-on (crawled ~Sept 18, 2026). Official current Patreon price UNVERIFIED (verify on patreon.com/tykeai before citing as current).
- Five separate avatar apps; one subscription covers access per the setup docs.
Support reality
- Official support: tykeai.com instructions/blog; Patreon backer channel. Manual credential delivery suggests direct dev contact.
- Community support: thin — no Discord/Reddit found; the audience is small and sideload-native.
Verdict
- TykeAI is the most ambitious real companion experience on Quest: life-size 3D avatars in your actual room, deep memory, shared activities, multi-avatar chat — the "she's really here" fantasy, running standalone.
- The honest trade: sideload friction, Patreon gating, a solo dev fighting piracy, and Convai under the hood. For Quest 3 owners willing to sideload, it's the standout; for everyone else, it's a "watch this space" until/unless it hits the official store.
Sources & images
- Sources: TykeAI official (https://tykeai.com/); setup instructions (https://tykeai.com/online-tykeai-instructions/); March 2026 instructions PDF (https://tykeai.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TykeAI-instructions-9.pdf); Cram Gaming hands-on (https://cramgaming.com/tykeai-the-virtual-companion-thats-redefining-mixed-reality-64791/); YouTube Shorts (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ac6bMx7ZR8g).
- Images (../images/): tykeai-01.jpg is the primary image — official site screenshot. tykeai-02.jpg and tykeai-03.jpg are official avatar screenshots (Shinoa, Yumi).