We met with Sky News Swipe last month to talk about the future of augmented reality and digital maps. We discussed (alongside Facebook Live viewers as well) why using our mapping platform technology in augmented reality excites us and our partners. Note, our mapping platform was built on gaming technology to be highly immersive, engaging, and robust. Our maps are true 3D, built using quality GIS data that includes building height and real terrain data. This makes WRLD a foundation for augmented reality maps and virtual experiences that require true 3D renderings of locations.

As Gemma Evans at Sky News points out, it’s amazing how technology has evolved the usefulness of a map and how we navigate, search, and discover the spaces around us. Collective fascination and interest for the world we inhabit will accelerate as we have increasing access to more information about the places that exist, have existed, or will soon be created, and are able to interact with that information in different computing platforms like augmented reality.

Augmented Reality (AR) will become the dominant platform for computing over the next few years, and it’ll evolve mapping platforms into primary interfaces for users to interact with the physical world around them. That’s why we’re building a digital twin of the real world, indoors and outdoors, so every place and object has meaning and relevant data that can be accessed and understood virtually by using our maps (i.e. on your phone).

Check out our CEO Faizaan Ghauri  with Sky News talking Augmented Reality Maps below:

During our time with Sky News, Gemma Evans got a sneak peek at how our 3D maps can be used to transform workplaces, retail spaces, and travel apps. We also demonstrated a preview of how 3D building maps allow for improved operational efficiency, could be dynamic to each visitor or experience, and much more. With the recent launch of Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore toolsets, using augmented reality to interact with the world will become available for those with an iOS or Android smartphone. Developers can check out this tutorial on how to build augmented reality 3D maps using the WRLD Unity SDK.

We are moving towards an era of geospatial computing. Digital information for everything will exist and must be anchored in a 3D context to be useful. As you can see in our demonstration with Sky News, anything in the physical world can serve as an anchor to populate relevant location-centric data such as building energy usage or museum opening times. Soon we’ll be pointing our cameras at people, places and objects and they will talk at us (and we can talk back!). Location is central in this modern era more than ever, and we’re excited to be building something that contributes to a greater understanding of our world, all over the world!

Want to see more? Check out our Facebook Live segment and Q&A with Sky News and Gemma, or Contact us to learn more about building with 3D maps for AR and VR experiences, gaming, travel, smart buildings, cities, and more.

Cheers to the future (it’s already here)!