diff --git a/crates/rapier3d-meshloader/src/lib.rs b/crates/rapier3d-meshloader/src/lib.rs
index 8863af407..b4a1f9085 100644
--- a/crates/rapier3d-meshloader/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/rapier3d-meshloader/src/lib.rs
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 #![deny(missing_docs)]
 
 pub use mesh_loader;
-use mesh_loader::{Material, Mesh};
+use mesh_loader::{Material, Mesh, Scene};
 use rapier3d::geometry::{MeshConverter, SharedShape};
 use rapier3d::math::{Pose, Vector};
 use rapier3d::prelude::MeshConverterError;
-use std::path::Path;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
 /// The result of loading a shape.
 pub struct LoadedShape {
@@ -35,24 +35,12 @@ pub enum MeshLoaderError {
     Io(#[from] std::io::Error),
 }
 
-/// Loads parry shapes from a file.
-///
-/// # Parameters
-/// - `path`: the file’s path.
-/// - `converter`: controls how the shapes are computed from the content. In particular, it lets
-///   you specify if the computed [`SharedShape`] is a triangle mesh, its convex hull,
-///   bounding box, etc.
-/// - `scale`: the scaling factor applied to the geometry input to the `converter`. This scale will
-///   affect at the geometric level the [`LoadedShape::shape`]. Note that raw mesh value stored
-///   in [`LoadedShape::raw_mesh`] remains unscaled.
-pub fn load_from_path(
-    path: impl AsRef<Path>,
+fn load_from_scene(
+    scene: Scene,
     converter: &MeshConverter,
     scale: Vector,
 ) -> Result<Vec<Result<LoadedShape, MeshConverterError>>, MeshLoaderError> {
-    let loader = mesh_loader::Loader::default();
     let mut colliders = vec![];
-    let scene = loader.load(path)?;
     // mesh-loader's OBJ backend aligns `scene.materials[i]` with
     // `scene.meshes[i]` (it expands per-mesh from the material_index),
     // so zipping is correct here. STL produces empty materials; pair
@@ -72,6 +60,72 @@ pub fn load_from_path(
     Ok(colliders)
 }
 
+/// Loads parry shapes from a file.
+///
+/// # Parameters
+/// - `path`: the file’s path.
+/// - `converter`: controls how the shapes are computed from the content. In particular, it lets
+///   you specify if the computed [`SharedShape`] is a triangle mesh, its convex hull,
+///   bounding box, etc.
+/// - `scale`: the scaling factor applied to the geometry input to the `converter`. This scale will
+///   affect at the geometric level the [`LoadedShape::shape`]. Note that raw mesh value stored
+///   in [`LoadedShape::raw_mesh`] remains unscaled.
+pub fn load_from_path(
+    path: impl AsRef<Path>,
+    converter: &MeshConverter,
+    scale: Vector,
+) -> Result<Vec<Result<LoadedShape, MeshConverterError>>, MeshLoaderError> {
+    let loader = mesh_loader::Loader::default();
+    let scene = loader.load(path)?;
+    load_from_scene(scene, converter, scale)
+}
+
+/// All supported file types
+pub enum FileType {
+    /// The STL file format
+    Stl,
+    /// The OBJ file format
+    Obj,
+    /// The COLLADA file format
+    Collada,
+}
+impl FileType {
+    fn extension(&self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            FileType::Stl => "stl",
+            FileType::Obj => "obj",
+            FileType::Collada => "dae",
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Loads parry shapes from a file.
+///
+/// # Parameters
+/// - `bytes`: a slice of byetes containing the model data.
+/// - `file_type`: the file type of the model.
+/// - `converter`: controls how the shapes are computed from the content. In particular, it lets
+///   you specify if the computed [`SharedShape`] is a triangle mesh, its convex hull,
+///   bounding box, etc.
+/// - `scale`: the scaling factor applied to the geometry input to the `converter`. This scale will
+///   affect at the geometric level the [`LoadedShape::shape`]. Note that raw mesh value stored
+///   in [`LoadedShape::raw_mesh`] remains unscaled.
+pub fn load_from_slice(
+    bytes: &[u8],
+    file_type: FileType,
+    converter: &MeshConverter,
+    scale: Vector,
+) -> Result<Vec<Result<LoadedShape, MeshConverterError>>, MeshLoaderError> {
+    let loader = mesh_loader::Loader::default();
+    // TODO: remove this path hack
+    // requires mesh-loader to fix https://github.com/openrr/mesh-loader/issues/88
+    let path = PathBuf::new()
+        .with_file_name("FakeFile")
+        .with_extension(file_type.extension());
+    let scene = loader.load_from_slice(bytes, path)?;
+    load_from_scene(scene, converter, scale)
+}
+
 /// Loads an file as a shape from a preloaded raw [`mesh_loader::Mesh`].
 ///
 /// # Parameters