World’s First 3-D Travel Portal Allows You to Climb Everest from Home

Singaporean company 3rd Planet is using 3-D technology to completely alter the way travelers prepare for trips. On Saturday, it will unveil what it calls the world's first interactive 3-D travel portal.

The company will launch the new program with the inaugural experience, A Journey to Everest, calling it a snapshot of what's to come. The firm worked with the Nepal Tourism Board to bring the key sights of Nepal to life in interactive 3-D computer-generated imagery.

As a national tourism office, we place a strong emphasis in presenting our tourism attractions to the global market in a unique way, Prachanda Man Shrestha, CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board, explained in a release. The beauty of Nepal cannot just be described in pictures and words, and 3rd Planet has an amazing technology that enables us to showcase our country in a totally new dimension.

Supported by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), 3rd Planet envisions itself as a brand-new marketing platform that will enable the global tourism industry to showcase major tourism attractions and places of interest using interactive media.

The company is currently working with tourism boards, airlines, hotels, shopping malls, and other attractions to make 3-D reconstructions.

Eventually, users will be able to narrow down searches to key tourism spots using phrases like Coolest Places on Earth or Icons of the World.

Harnessing interactive media for global travelers and enabling experiential learning, users of the travel portal will be able to explore a growing number of the world's most famous sites with the click of the mouse.

Users can virtually walk through and immerse themselves in the surroundings as if they were there in person while simultaneously learning about the cultures, histories, events and activities of various nations.

CEO Terence Mak, a Singaporean entrepreneur and avid traveler, felt there was a better way to access locations around the world prior to the travel experience.

Mak said that 3rd Planet will offer users an unparalleled experience to better visualize tourism destinations and equip them with more knowledge of what the locations have to offer before they travel.

The software is Web-based, supported across all major browsers through a small client download, and is operational on both Mac and PC platforms. 3rd Planet recommends installing the program on a computer with broadband connection and a dedicated graphics card.

Best of all, the platform is entirely free for the first 1 million subscribers. Users need only to register an account.

Learn more in the promotional video below: