GeoForAll: Simplifying 3D Geospatial Metaverse Creation

Effortlessly create digital twins of any Earth location with no code. Just search an address, add custom content & data, & collaborate with multiplayer, all with cross-platform support out of the box.

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Inspiration

Our journey began with an ambitious vision to combine Agora World's no code, user-friendly 3D Creation platform with Cesium's and Google's advanced 3D geospatial technology. As the Founder and CEO, I personally encountered significant barriers in creating digital twins using Cesium's and Google's APIs due to my non-developer background. This struggle sparked a realization of a prevalent issue – the need for an accessible platform that democratizing access to and empowers anyone to design immersive, geographically accurate digital twins without requiring coding skills. This vision was further validated and energized by receiving a grant from Cesium, recognizing the transformative potential of our project.

What it does

GeoForAll enables users to create digital twins of any location on Earth using a no-code approach. By integrating Cesium's and Google's high-resolution geospatial data into Agora World, users can craft realistic virtual environments, add custom content, code and data layers, as well as engage in multiplayer collaboration. This integration brings unprecedented ease to designing immersive experiences that are both geographically accurate and visually stunning.

How we built it

Our journey to build this groundbreaking integration was a team effort, slated to culminate in a beta launch on December 8, 2023. The project was spearheaded by our skilled team, who developed it as an "App" within the Agora World ecosystem. Our platform's design philosophy emphasizes ease of use and versatility, enabling direct integrations with third-party software. This approach not only simplifies the creation of 3D content but also streamlines its distribution.

Once we integrated this App into our platform, it was instantly powered by Agora World's robust metaverse infrastructure. This integration allowed us to support essential features such as real-time collaboration and cross-platform support. Our no-code creation tools, a key aspect of Agora World, became integral to the App, enabling users to customize immersive 3D experiences without requiring extensive technical knowledge. This seamless fusion of Agora World's infrastructure with the new App capabilities represents a significant leap forward in democratizing 3D geospatial metaverse creation.

The project unfolded over several months, beginning with an intensive phase of research and understanding Cesium's and Google's capabilities. We also worked directly with our partners at Intuitive Research and Technology, ECS (Engineering & Computer Simulations), Army Schoolhouse, and more to ensure the way we constructed this truly solved a need. This phase was crucial in aligning our development with the real-world requirements and expectations of our partners, ensuring the final product would be both innovative and practically applicable. Initial testing has revealed that our tool empowers non-developers to rapidly create digital twins in under 5 minutes, achieving a remarkable 99% reduction in time.

The culmination of this project marks not just the achievement of a significant technical milestone, but also the opening of new horizons in 3D geospatial metaverse creation. By bridging the gap between complex geospatial data and user-friendly design, we are setting the stage for an era where creating digital twins of the world is accessible to all. This journey from concept to reality not only tested our abilities but also expanded our vision for the future of immersive digital experiences.

Challenges we ran into

Our journey was marked by challenges like seamlessly integrating this app with our user-friendly platform and ensuring the system's usability and scalability. Another significant hurdle was optimizing performance across various devices, ensuring that our solution was accessible to a broad user base. We faced specific challenges in enabling web browser support, due to the current limitations in integrating Cesium and Google Photorealistic Tiles with WebGL. Our team discovered that no precedent existed for compiling Cesium's native code to WebAssembly (WASM). We identified issues with identical header file names across various folders in Cesium's native code and its third-party dependencies. This necessitates separate library compilations using Emscripten, along with the integration of these compiled libraries into our Unity project. Additionally, we encountered difficulties with the 'Forbid Holes' setting, impacting performance and loading optimization. This setting often resulted in distant tiles loading before more immediate, relevant areas, contrary to user expectations. For example, upon searching for a specific location like 'Las Vegas Top Golf', the priority should be rendering the immediate area, not distant buildings. Furthermore, the variance in global elevation sometimes caused users to spawn into the ground, necessitating a dynamic adjustment mechanism to maintain a consistent elevation above ground level across various locations. These complexities highlight the need for ongoing refinement and innovation in our approach. We are determined to overcome these challenges and plan to develop web support for this product in 2024.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're immensely proud of creating a platform that simplifies 3D geospatial metaverse creation, making it accessible to a wider audience. The successful integration of geospatial technology into Agora World is a testament to our team's innovation and dedication. This accomplishment has the potential to revolutionize how people interact with and understand geospatial data.

Growth Achievements:

  • Secured a $400k lead investment and written confirmation of a follow-on commitment from a previous investor for our Seed Round.
  • Selected as one of 12 companies to pitch at the LG Nova Innovation Festival.
  • Chosen as one of 25 companies for the PACT Capital Conference.
  • Participated in notable pitching events like SWG Getaway Bilbao, PACT/TiE TopPitch (Comcast LIFT Labs), and WMF Rimini 2023.
  • As of November 14th, we've seen our creators create over 1800 3D designs (+110% YoY).
  • Received a grant from Cesium, leading to a collaboration with Google and acceptance into the Google for Startups Cloud Program.
  • Accepted into NVIDIA Inception Program.
  • Engaged as a guest lecturer opportunities with institutions like UPenn, NYU, and Temple University.
  • Empowered brands like Hyundai, IBX, and Blind Burners to launch immersive experiences on our platform.
  • Approximately 90% of our user base has been acquired through referrals and word of mouth.

These accomplishments reflect our commitment to empowering creators and brands with cutting-edge tools for metaverse creation, while fostering a community that is engaged, innovative, and growing exponentially.

What we learned

Throughout this project, our team gained invaluable insights into the complexities of integrating advanced geospatial technology into a user-friendly, no-code platform. We learned the importance of balancing technical innovation with practical usability, ensuring that our tools are accessible to non-developers. Our collaboration with partners like Intuitive Research and Technology, ECS, and the Army Schoolhouse provided real-world perspectives, highlighting the necessity of aligning our technology with actual user needs and scenarios.

We encountered and overcame numerous technical challenges, particularly in adapting sophisticated technologies built by Cesium and Google for a broader audience. These experiences taught us about the intricacies of web technologies and the need for constant adaptation to integrate cutting-edge geospatial data seamlessly.

What's next for GeoForAll: Simplifying 3D Geospatial Metaverse Creation

As we look to the future, our focus remains on enhancing and expanding the capabilities of GeoForAll. Building on our current successes, we plan to integrate additional data layers offered by Google. This will enable creators to easily access and leverage a wider array of geospatial information, including maps, weather data, photorealistic street views, and more, all with a simple click of a button. This expansion of our platform will further democratize the creation of digital twins and simulations, making advanced geospatial data more accessible and user-friendly. In addition, we are excited to announce our plans to introduce Augmented Reality support to GeoForAll. This groundbreaking feature will allow creators to deploy their experiences and creations simultaneously in both the virtual digital twin and the real world through AR. Such hybrid experiences will bridge the gap between virtual and physical realities, enabling people present at a physical location to engage with the same content as those exploring the virtual equivalent. This dual-reality approach will open up a plethora of possibilities for creating immersive, inclusive experiences that are both innovative and deeply engaging.

Continuing our commitment to innovation, we aim to resolve the current challenges with web browser support and optimize the performance for different devices. Our goal is to make GeoForAll not only a powerful tool for professional creators but also an accessible platform that unlocks new possibilities for creators, educators, scientists, and enthusiasts on a global scale. By constantly refining our technology and expanding our partnerships, we are poised to lead the evolution of digital twin creation, making it an integral part of various industries and educational fields.

GeoForAll's journey is just beginning. As we continue to innovate and grow, we are excited to see the transformative impact of our platform on the way people interact with and understand the world around them. Our goal is to make the creation of digital twins and immersive geospatial experiences not just a possibility for the few, but a reality for many.

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