Virtual Reality Urban Planning App Built with Esri’s ArcGIS Platform

Redlands, CA— May 7, 2014—At this week’s TechCrunch Disrupt NY Hackathon, software engineer Angel Say won the grand prize for his virtual reality urban planning web app, Vrban, built with Esri’s ArcGIS Platform.

Vrban is a virtual reality urban planning app that lets people explore urban environments in 3D using the Oculus Rift headset. To create Vrban, Say used the Esri ArcGIS API for JavaScript and Esri CityEngine.

“Esri has awesome map visualization and awesome map data, so when they told me they have a 3D aspect, I thought ‘OK, I’m definitely going for that,’” Say said in a backstage video interview at the Disrupt NY Hackathon. “I spent about two hours at the Esri table, trying to figure out the 3D stuff. There was a lot of feedback and by the end of the night I figured out the bulk of what I needed.”

Vrban is designed to help urban planners collaborate and visualize the impact of different decisions. For example, users can assess proposed buildings under various settings such as sunlight, point of view, and location.

Say was awarded $5,000 by TechCrunch and will be able to present his work on stage at the TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2014 conference today.

Discover more about Esri developer tools at esri.com/developer.

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