3rd Planet lets tourists visit 3D landscapes of Nepal within Internet browser

3rd Planet, an ambitious Singapore startup founded by avid traveler Terence Mak, has a simple vision: To give travelers the experience of being immersed in another country through their Internet browser. In their own words, they’re building “the first interactive 3D online travel portal” in the world.

The free-to-use service will be made available globally on 10th December with the launch of their “Journey to Everest” experience. The startup is supported by the Media Development Authority of Singapore.

I was a bit skeptical initially. After installing the required plugins, I was brought to a rotatable 3D image of the Earth within my browser. It bore a striking resemblance to Google Earth.

In many ways, they share similar features. I can zoom in on the world map to take a look at terrain features, get immersed in 3D re-creations of  a city, and read detailed information about locations that pique my interest.

But I would do 3rd Planet a grave injustice by calling it a Google Earth clone — it is fundamentally a different product. All the features of 3rd Planet work within a browser, unlike Google Earth. Also, the primary aim of 3rd Planet is to serve as an information portal for tourists who are planning their trips.

I had the chance to take 3rd Planet for a spin, and while I am impressed by the product, it is still rough around the edges.

Let’s start with the positives first.

Unlike run-of-the-mill tourist websites like Lonely Planet, 3rd Planet’s attraction is in its aural and visual immersion. After zooming in on Nepal, I was brought to a map that showed me various places I could visit. Clicking on certain icons will reveal information about a particular attraction, things to look out for, and even entrance fees.

Some locations have a 3D view that allows me to “walk” around the landscape, see how some of the landmarks look like, and read relevant information about them.

Overall, I found the experience pleasant,  novel, and fluid. I could visit the airport, for instance, and read about do’s and don’ts in Nepal, the currency exchange rate, and places to stay in. I would be greeted with sounds of people chattering away and the murmur of an intercom announcement. Generally what you would associate with airport noises.

3rd Planet is easy to use too. I had no problems learning how to navigate around the map, reading information I want. Google Earth, on the other hand, has a rather steep learning curve.

Now for the not-so-good parts.

I found loading to be a bit slow on my broadband connection, especially when going into the 3D view. Also, whenever I try to view some of the descriptions, they take forever to appear — a major turn-off. And when the descriptions do appear, I found them poorly formatted. Headings aren’t highlighted in bold, and there are no hyperlinks to bring you to hotels websites and so on.

I also found the explorer view, which lets you walk the map on your own, clunky and somewhat pointless. Walking around is painfully slow, and not useful in any way. I prefer the “fly through” mode, which very quickly brings me to relevant and interesting objects.

Generally, the information presented was quite detailed and comprehensive, but site lacks features that can vastly increase site stickiness after the novelty factor wears off. 3rd Planet should aim to make their portal as complete as possible. If users have to go elsewhere to do their planning after visiting the site, that should be a sin.

I would love 3rd Planet to integrate hotel booking services within the portal. I would also love to find out about available flight timings in and out of Nepal, and even hyperlinks to the airline’s flight booking portal. These features would make the site infinitely more useful — although they take a lot of effort to implement.

The site doesn’t seem to have any social media integration in place. That’s a pity really, because I do think 3rd Planet deserves at least a first look by anyone who wants to travel, and platforms like Facebook and Twitter are effective if used correctly.

Flaws notwithstanding, 3rd Planet has potential to be the go-to source for travelers by offering a fresh look at how tourist information can be organized and presented. While traditional websites force users to navigate via hyperlinks and webpages, 3rd Planet offers something extra — the ability to spatially locate information within a 3D representation of the real world.

By allowing us to explore our surroundings this way, we mimic actual human behavior, much like how the iPhone’s touchscreen brought natural finger gestures to smartphones.

To put it a bit pompously, perhaps what 3rd Planet offers is a glimpse at the future of Internet navigation.

Images: 3rd Planet

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