Augmented Reality Metaverse Startup Peer Hires Zenly Creators To Build Its Globe-Spanning 3D Maps

Social metaverse ecosystem builder Peer has made a key talent acquisition, hiring the “Wonka” design team that developed the popular 3D social maps platform Zenly, which was later acquired by Snapchat. 

The Wonka team is headed by its chief designer and Peer’s new Head of Maps Milan Bulat, and has been assigned the task of creating an AI-powered 3D Map for Peer that will span the entire world, effectively mapping its augmented reality metaverse to the real world. It’s an ambitious project, but also a key part of Peer’s plans to create a next-generation social network encompassing augmented reality. 

Peer’s concept is as ambitious as it is creative, with the idea being to create an AR-based social network based on a 3D map that encompasses the entire planet. Within it, users would be able to don a headset or use a mobile device to access new kinds of gamified experiences rendered atop of the real world in every part of the globe. It’s a project that truly aims to bridge the metaverse with the real world, making blockchain relevant and useful to everyone. 

Users will be able to build up what Peer calls a “personal places” graph atop of its 3D map composed of previous memories and highlights of their metaverse lives. They’ll be able to interact with other users through social games too. For example, someone could place a 3D object on Peer’s map that other users can collect or interact with when they visit the same physical location, whether it’s a library, public park or just a busy street somewhere in the city. It makes it possible for users to share memories and access those of others who live and play in Peer’s AR metaverse. 

Such an ambitious project requires a very capable team, and Peer is getting its hands on some of the world’s top mapmaking talent. The Wonka team’s Zenly app was downloaded more than 160 times and boasted 35 million daily active users at its peak. Zenly was a unique social media app focused on getting people out and about in the real world, using interactive maps that enabled users to see where their friends were and what they were up to at any moment. Peer aims to take that concept and bring it to the next level with 3D objects and games that must be accessed by getting out and seeking them in the real world.

“We have an aggressive roadmap to deliver the features that Zenly users loved in an all-new platform they will rave about,” Bulat said. “Peer will completely transform the way people experience their world.”

Peer is planning to launch its AR-powered metaverse app in the second quarter of the year, and it will be available on both iOS and Android, as well as VR headsets. Ahead of its launch, Peer has created a web page where fans can sign up early, reserve their usernames and gain access to exclusive rewards. 

Peer founder and Chief Executive Tony Tran said he was a big fan of Zenly and is excited to be working with the Wonka team to make his plans a reality.

“Our 3D maps sit at the intersection of the digital and physical worlds, enabling users to access both simultaneously,” he said. “We see it as a globally connected experience.”