We need a new word.
Whenever there’s a leap forward, the English language can’t accommodate it. That’s why brands sometimes become verbs – we “Google” information, we “Uber” to lunch.
For online communities and events, the same is about to happen with Passage.
What is Passage?
Passage is a place where creators produce 3D digital experiences.
Replacing 2D pages with 3D spaces, Passage allows anyone to easily create immersive online events and experiences and share them with a browser link.
If it can be made in Unreal Engine, it can be a part of your Passage, including all the interactive elements. But you won’t need years of software training.
With a drag-and-drop editor, you can cut, paste, and transform your 3D space, putting together pieces like LEGOs.
Create a custom space to livestream, an office to collaborate with your team, or a gated space for only your community members. It’s up to you.
For online events and communities, this is a game changer.
Between vanilla meetings, text-based chat servers, and overpromising ‘metaverses’, current platforms for online communities and events have proven too stale for the digital revolution.
Virtual work calls, product launches, university lectures, webinars, conferences… they’ve all been missing one important element: interactivity.
Media-rich GIF options, AI-generated Zoom backgrounds—these were incremental improvements to the old way of communicating online. But the next step is a much bigger stride: interactivity and engagement.
Online communities were always destined to evolve. We just never had a word for it until now.
Why is Passage?
You know when something seems obvious, but for some reason, no one is building it?
One thing became clear during the pandemic: existing technology can—and should—do better to keep us engaged.
While remote work was on the rise, employers were looking for ways to keep their employees engaged. Engagement in online meetings became a challenge, with 80% of remote workers experiencing “Zoom fatigue.”
At the same time, event organizers, artists, and community leaders were looking for ways to wow without limiting their audience to a flat screen.
As our team was building custom digital environments for clients, we quickly saw the broader potential for these environments with a new frontier of digital experience beginning to take shape before us.
Thus, the idea of Passage was born.
Making 3D Easy
Until recently, making a 3D experience was labor-intensive. Video games take years to make, even with hundreds of trained developers. Architecture firms use highly specialized software with tailor-made features. 3D modeling is an industry, and it’s about to be disrupted.
Passage makes it easy for you to build an online 3D space for your community, event, team, and more. Simply pick assets from our marketplace—from 3D models and plugins to actual game mechanics—then slot them together in the Passage World Builder.
Creating 3D spaces is no longer just for professionals. All you need to do is drag and drop.
Still want to get your hands dirty and make something custom? You’ve got the full power of Unreal Engine 5 to work with.
We believe this is the next step for online engagement—a democratized way of creating more engaging virtual experiences.
Sharing Your Passage Experience
We know downloading and installing new things is a huge barrier to entry, so we’ve made sharing your Passage with the world as frictionless as possible. All you need is a link.
Any world you make in Passage can be shared with a link. With a simple click, people can join your experience through their browser from any device. It’s as easy as joining a normal video call—but instead of being stuck on Zoom, people will be exploring your haunted maze or interior design demo or virtual DJ gig or whatever else you dreamed up.
You’ll be able to stream from your Passage to all the major platforms simultaneously, allowing your community to join in wherever they are. (More details on that in our next post on Passage Social Tools!)
Your Passage feed will act as a social media hub, with all your posts from apps in-line. This allows anyone to see your videos, tweets, work-related posts, and fancy brunch photos all in one spot.
We’re building what we think is the next step for online spaces, closing the chasm between creators and audiences with the Passage to connect them.
If you’re a community manager, artist, creator, event organizer, academic, or anyone else who might benefit, get in touch with us and join the waitlist!
