A method, comprising: using a robot having a plurality of sensors (150, 152) to acquire sensor data about a local environment; processing the sensor data to generate a spatial model of the local environment, the spatial model defining virtual surfaces that correspond to real surfaces in the local environment; further processing the sensor data to generate texture information that is associated to the virtual surfaces defined by the spatial model, wherein the texture information includes one or more of a diffuse map, a bump map, and/or a specular map; tracking a location and orientation of a head-mounted display, HMD, in the local environment; using the spatial model, the texture information, and the tracked location and orientation of the HMD to render a view of a virtual space that corresponds to the local environment, wherein the location of the HMD in the local environment defines a perspective from which the view of the virtual space is rendered; presenting the view of the virtual environment through the HMD, wherein using the robot to acquire sensor data includes sampling representative portions of the real surfaces in the local environment to enable the generation of the texture information that is associated to the virtual surfaces, wherein acquiring the sensor data includes capturing images of a real surface in the local environment from a plurality of angles, wherein each of the plurality of angles corresponds to a different position of the robot in the local environment, wherein processing the sensor data to generate the texture information includes processing the images captured from the plurality of angles to generate texture information for a given virtual surface defined by the spatial model that corresponds to the real surface, and wherein using the robot to acquire sensor data includes affecting the lighting of a real surface in the environment by: operating a light included in the robot to illuminate a surface, and/or moving the robot to produce a shadow upon a surface by moving between a light source and the surface. using a robot having a plurality of sensors (150, 152) to acquire sensor data about a local environment; processing the sensor data to generate a spatial model of the local environment, the spatial model defining virtual surfaces that correspond to real surfaces in the local environment; further processing the sensor data to generate texture information that is associated to the virtual surfaces defined by the spatial model, wherein the texture information includes one or more of a diffuse map, a bump map, and/or a specular map; tracking a location and orientation of a head-mounted display, HMD, in the local environment; using the spatial model, the texture information, and the tracked location and orientation of the HMD to render a view of a virtual space that corresponds to the local environment, wherein the location of the HMD in the local environment defines a perspective from which the view of the virtual space is rendered; presenting the view of the virtual environment through the HMD, wherein using the robot to acquire sensor data includes sampling representative portions of the real surfaces in the local environment to enable the generation of the texture information that is associated to the virtual surfaces, wherein acquiring the sensor data includes capturing images of a real surface in the local environment from a plurality of angles, wherein each of the plurality of angles corresponds to a different position of the robot in the local environment, wherein processing the sensor data to generate the texture information includes processing the images captured from the plurality of angles to generate texture information for a given virtual surface defined by the spatial model that corresponds to the real surface, and wherein using the robot to acquire sensor data includes affecting the lighting of a real surface in the environment by: operating a light included in the robot to illuminate a surface, and/or moving the robot to produce a shadow upon a surface by moving between a light source and the surface. operating a light included in the robot to illuminate a surface, and/or moving the robot to produce a shadow upon a surface by moving between a light source and the surface.