Dimension X, Inc. (DimX) is a Metaverse company developing a platform that simplifies the process for creators and storytellers to build immersive experiences for physical and virtual worlds. What Wordpress did for website building, or what Figma did for interface design, and what Unity did for game development, DimX is doing for immersive experience creation.
TechBuzz profiled the startup on August 17, 2022, after it had closed its $600K pre-seed round from Startup Ignition Ventures.
The company has announced it has won a contract from the Christa McAuliffe Space Center (CMSC) to use Bonfire, DimX's newly developed no-code immersive creation platform, to update the Center's software. Founded in 1990, CMSC is an immersive, experiential educational institution and planetarium located in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Visitors become active participants in role-based space simulations and real-time challenges that encourage critical thinking, team work, decision making, and conflict resolution. CMSC will use Bonfire to upgrade parts of the software used to run its immersive space experience.
Meta provided a grant to underwrite the software upgrade which includes improving the creation of new learning experiences and the development of a mobile application.
Serving more than 20,000 patrons each year, CMSC provides immersive STEM experiences for visitors of all ages. Current CMSC experiences are patterned after sci-fi space flight missions. Participants sit at computer workstations within custom built sets resembling a futuristic starship and are assigned flight roles (i.e. communications, engineering, captain) needed to accomplish the objectives while reacting to unexpected challenges manually inserted by staff behind the scenes to create individualized engagement.
To date, CMSC has been using simulation software that been developed locally over the years from open source contributions. It requires a team of technical operators to manually monitor and initiate real-time experience variations. In addition, changing viewport experience screens requires significant coding skills. The DimX software upgrade addresses these issues by simplifying the creation of new experiences with a drag-and-drop creation platform, essentially shifting the focus of work from programming to storytelling, character and environment development, story arc, user interactions, learning objectives that can be accomplished by non-technical creators.
The Meta grant will also fund the development of a mobile application so participants can track their flight experiences remotely.
“We are laying the groundwork for an entire set of new experiences that participants can have in our center, at home, school or work using virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technology," said James Porter, CMSC Director. “The software upgrades being done by DimX are exciting as they build a new foundation that is performant and scalable to serve hundreds of thousands of patrons locally and abroad.”
Founded in 2022, DimX has been on a break-neck pace to develop Bonfire: a no-code, simple drag-and-drop platform that enables creators to build story-driven immersive experiences spanning across mobile/desktop, AR, MR and VR devices. At the core of Bonfire lies the Spark SDK and file format: a contextually intelligent hybrid of visuals and logic designed from the ground up for interoperability and ease of use.
Bonfire is currently in private-beta. Creators can join the waitlist to get access in the coming weeks.
“We are on the front edge of a tectonic shift in how we engage and interact with each other and the world as XR devices become more mainstream. This tech is going to revolutionize learning, working, and playing through significantly more engaging and impactful experiences," said Scott Robertson, CEO of DimX. “We are excited to be delivering ground-breaking content creation tools to millions of creators. James and his team at CMSC are innovators in this space and we are pleased to be their partners.