It was October 24, 2024 when we wrote here about a big top-secret project involving Joomla. After over 600 hours of development and promotional efforts we are pleased to announce that 3DBug is finally here and available on the Joomla Extensions Directory!
This is, of course, a huge achievement and an important milestone.
What is 3DBug?
3DBug is a component that you install on your Joomla website. It lets you use graphics of any sort to build a “world”. Within the world, you position “rooms”. Within the rooms, you position “assets”. Rooms and assets can be associated with various digital media, including 3D models and scans (a.k.a. “gaussian splats”). Furthermore it lets your world integrate with any content in Joomla.
The end result is a versatile multimedia display and navigation system which can be used for virtual tours, games, e-Learning, galleries, site maps, and e-commerce among other things. A more detailed description can be seen on the 3DBug website.
Why does it exist?
Over the years Confidant gained experience with a number of very interesting projects:
- Mapping and digital asset tracking
- Browser-based applications using Haxe and OpenFL
- Many Joomla websites since 2004
- 3-D graphic display tools using multiple code libraries
- E-commerce
As time went on, a question began growing in my little brain: Is there any way I can combine all of this experience into a single product?
The dreams became more vivid, and as plans began to take root there were other fortunate developments rapidly advancing in technology.
- The Joomla Component Builder tool released some major updates which supported the latest version of Joomla.
- A.I. was becoming a very useful tool for debugging and solving complex coding challenges.
- Gaussian splat technology has been rapidly advancing as the new standard in immersive 3-D web graphics.
The result of these three factors was that the project, which normally would require a large multi-disciplinary team, was streamlined into something which could be handled by a single person with spare hours over the course of about 18 months. So here we are celebrating!
What does the future hold?
It seems that this was an interesting enough project that Allan was accepted to be a speaker at the Joomla World Conference 2026 in Potsdam, Germany. Leading up to that time we will be very busy enhancing documentation, securing development and/or marketing funding, and doing promotional activity. It remains to be seen whether 3DBug itself will be a profitable long-term business or simply a nice portfolio piece.
If you have any need for this tool or have a custom application idea, please get in touch. We’ll be happy to explore a solution for you!
