Virtual Worlds

Real places, rebuilt for exploration. Walk through university campuses, discover cities and explore interactive worlds built from public map data.

Choose a world to explore

How do we reconstruct the streets and buildings?

We start with geographic records, then make deliberate modelling choices. The map supplies the layout; the interactive world adds simplified surfaces, building volumes and original scenery.

  1. Start with public geography

    Public sources, including city open data and OpenStreetMap, provide street centre lines, building footprints and other available layers, such as parks, shorelines and sidewalks. We select a bounded area and record the sources, retrieval dates and licences for each published snapshot.

  2. Turn map lines into streets

    Geographic coordinates become local positions measured in metres. Street lines gain width to form pavement; sidewalks and junctions are simplified for exploration. We check the movement surfaces against buildings and, where present, water. Widths and clearance adjustments remain modelling choices.

  3. Build up from the footprints

    A footprint describes a building's outline on the ground. We raise that outline into a simple 3D volume, using source height fields or carefully matched historical LiDAR heights where available, and illustrative heights elsewhere. LiDAR measures distance with laser pulses; matching an old measurement to a footprint does not make it a current survey.

  4. Add character and check the result

    Original procedural facades, roofs, trees and landmark models make the scene readable. We check geometry, collisions and routes, then publish compact, versioned data with source records and processing notes. Visual detail is an interpretation, not evidence of architectural accuracy.

What the models can tell you

Vancouver, City in Progress

The False Creek model combines 2015 building footprints with selected historical height measurements and illustrative heights. Terrain is flat; street widths, some footprint trims and decorative details are approximations. Bridges are view-only. It is an exploration experiment, not a current survey or real-world navigation tool.

Surrey, City of Adventure

City of Surrey road surfaces, curbs, paths and footprints supply the layout. Building-height units are verified as metres and matched to official records; measurement dates and methods remain unknown. Terrain stays flat because the elevation datum is unverified. Facades and landmarks are artistic reconstructions. The stories and characters are fictional; game access and events do not describe real property access, crime or neighbourhood safety.

Richmond Learns to Drive

OpenStreetMap supplies roads, footprints, water and airport surfaces. Heights, road widths and bridge elevations include approximations. Entrances, interior plans, people and delivery stories are original fiction. The open-airfield game connection does not describe real airport access.

Each project's source and licence links above explain its datasets, processing and limitations. The city pages retain their own detailed credits.