Metiq: a real time 3D globe for 100 public datasets

The concept for metiq.space came after playing Global Magnates with friends and realizing how fragmented live global data is. ships, aircraft, satellites, ports, weather, hazards, infrastructure, cyber, and public datasets all exist, but they usually live in separate tools and maps.The goal was to build one interactive 3D globe where live public data could be visualized by latitude, longitude, and altitude. Surface data stays on the globe, while aircraft, satellites, and other above surface things can be represented in actual 3D space instead of being flattened onto a map.The outcome is an interactive globe that showcases Earth, air, sea, space, cyber, defense, infrastructure, politics, and the list is continuously growing.Majority of development right now is going into data filtering and deduping.

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FL score

62

out of 100

Verdict

VALIDATE

medium confidence

Competition

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Trend

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A 3D globe aggregating 100 public datasets into one interface, solving fragmentation but unclear on who pays and why they switch.

The pain

Professionals working with global real-time data (maritime, aviation, defense, infrastructure) currently toggle between 5-10 separate tools. Each tool has its own interface, update cadence, and data quality. This context-switching wastes time and creates blind spots when correlating events across domains.

The gap

No single platform visualizes ships, aircraft, satellites, weather, and infrastructure simultaneously in 3D space with real-time updates. Existing solutions are either domain-specific (FlightRadar24, MarineTraffic) or generic mapping tools (Google Earth, ArcGIS) that don't integrate live feeds across categories.

Build angle

Start by identifying one specific user segment with acute pain, likely maritime operations, defense intelligence, or emergency response, and build the minimal 3D globe that solves their workflow. Validate that they'll pay before expanding to 100 datasets. The 3D visualization is a feature, not the business.

Strengths

  • Addresses real fragmentation problem that affects multiple industries
  • 3D representation of altitude data is genuinely useful, not cosmetic
  • Public datasets reduce licensing complexity and startup costs
  • Technical execution appears solid (data deduping is the hard part)

Risks

  • No clear monetization path, who is the customer and what do they pay for?
  • Competing against entrenched domain-specific tools with network effects (pilots use FlightRadar24, shipping uses MarineTraffic)
  • Data quality and freshness are critical but expensive to maintain across 100 sources
  • Broad feature set (9+ domains) suggests unfocused product; likely needs to pick one vertical first
  • Public data availability varies by country and can be restricted for security reasons
  • Building a platform is harder than building a tool, needs critical mass of data sources and users to create value

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