Newswise — Geopipe, Inc., which allows professionals in simulation, gaming, architecture, and other fields to instantly download immersive virtual models of the real world, will feature its work as part of the inaugural “University Innovation & Entrepreneurship Showcase,” on Tues., Nov. 14, 5-7 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building, Rayburn Foyer (45 Independence Avenue SW). 

Geopipe, Inc., co-founded by Christopher Mitchell, a doctoral graduate of NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and Thomas Dickerson, a Ph.D. student at Brown University, aims to lower the cost of interacting with the real world in virtual space. Geopipe builds algorithms to turn existing raw data about the world into accurate, detailed models.

Typically, video game and VR experience designers, special effects artists, and military simulation creators rely on expensive creative labor and thousands of dollars of data collection to create virtual 3D models of the real world.

Geopipe’s approach bypasses this costly approach by reconstructing the world through mathematical formulas. The co-founders add that their system also understands the location and properties of objects that make up the real world, so its customers can customize the models they download from simplified, clay-like massings to realistic textured worlds.

Since its founding in 2016, Geopipe has built early customer relationships in architecture and real estate. Its methods allow for exploration of existing structures, terrain, trees, and other features, as well as the placement of a new design into specific contexts for rendering, walkthroughs, or 3D printing. In real estate, the technology allows developers to immediately see all of the views from a hypothetical building on a site, allowing them to quickly make strategic decisions about the sites in which they invest. As Geopipe continues to build its technology, it will aim to meet the needs of markets where it is vital to immerse the user or player in a recognizable, interactive copy of the real world.

Development of Geopipe’s technology was supported by grants from the Small Business Innovation Research program, part of the Small Business Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

The showcase is hosted by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the Association of American Universities, in partnership with the National Academy of Inventors and VentureWell.

For more about Geopipe, go to: https://geopi.pe/.