Create a digital space perfectly suited to your needs with the Cosmos Space Builder
The Cosmos Space Builder is an easy-to-use tool for creating digital spaces. Whether you're starting from scratch or customising an existing template, the Cosmos Space Builder gives you complete control over the experience of people who enter your space.
In this article & accompanying video, we'll walk you through the essentials of the Space Builder, helping you understand how the interface works and how to use its core features to create your own spaces.
Getting Started with the Space Builder
[Video: 00:00 - 00:19]
Accessing the Space Builder is straightforward:
Open your Cosmos space
Click on the Space dropdown
Select "Floorplan"
Choose "Build your own space"
Once opened, you'll see a clean interface designed to make spatial design accessible to everyone, regardless of design experience.
Understanding the Interface
[Video: 00:19 - 00:55]
The Space Builder is organised into a four-part layout:
Top Toolbar: Contains all the action buttons and tools needed for creating and manipulating your space.
Left Panel: Object Layers: Displays all your areas and furniture in a hierarchical structure, making it easy to select and organise elements.
Centre Panel: Visual Editor: The canvas where your vision comes to life—place, move, and arrange elements to create your perfect digital space.
Right Panel: Contextual Panel: Adapts dynamically based on what you've selected, showing relevant properties and options for rooms or furniture.
Navigating the Top Toolbar
[Video: 00:55 - 02:05]
The toolbar provides quick access to essential tools:
Select Tool (S): Choose this option to select and move rooms or furniture. Double-click to select individual pieces of furniture within a room.
Area Tool (A): Areas in Cosmos are crucial; they impact how video calling behaves for your users.
Spatial Areas: Where spatial video calling works, people who are close to each other hear, and see each other. Like a physical space. Ideal for situations where you want users to dynamically move between conversations.
Meeting Rooms: For situations where you want everyone to be in one video call, think of it as a Google Meet. Here, everyone sees and hears everyone. Meeting rooms can be named, have direct links, and can be locked for private conversations.
Entrance Areas: Area where people will enter the space, if they have the link to your space.
Object Tool (O): Access our extensive library of assets with which you can build your Cosmos spaces. This includes furniture, carpets, tables, decorations, plants, lighting, and much more.
Hand Tool (H or Spacebar): Pan around your space to focus on different areas.
Undo/Redo: Easily step backward or forward through your changes.
Zoom Controls: Adjust your view to see the big picture or focus on details.
Clear Floor Plan: Start fresh by removing all elements (use with caution!).
Save: Preserve your work and publish your custom space when you're ready.
Understanding Area Types
[Video: 02:05 - 03:20]
The Space Builder offers three distinct area types, each affecting how calling behaviour works in your digital space:
Spatial Areas
Spatial Areas are where spatial video calling works. People who are close to each other (with overlapping coverage areas) will hear and see each other, while those who move further away stop hearing each other. Use Spatial Areas when you want dynamic conversations that can become larger or smaller based on people's intentions.
Meeting Rooms
Meeting Rooms are designed to ensure everyone in the room can hear and see each other, regardless of where they are positioned. The entire room "lights up" when active. Use Meeting Rooms when you want to make sure that everybody in the call hears each other.
Entrance Areas
This is where people enter when they use a link for your space. Please note that if you share your space link, people will enter here. If you share links to specific rooms, people will enter directly in those rooms.
Working with the Object Layers Panel
[Video: 03:20 - 03:33]
The left panel has two views:
When using the Select Tool, it displays a list of all areas with their corresponding objects in a hierarchical structure.
When using the Object Tool, it shows you the object library with all available assets.
Using the Contextual Panel
[Video: 03:33 - 04:43]
The right panel dynamically changes based on what you've selected:
If you've selected an area (meeting room, spatial area, or entrance area), you'll have options to:
Customise the area name
Change wall and floor designs
Toggle display settings
Add and style borders
Enable interactive features:
Apps: Allow access to embedded applications like Google Docs and Sheets
Games: Enable built-in Cosmos games
If you've selected an object, you'll be able to:
Customise the sequence of layering
Choose from different style variations
Select colours
Adjust rotation
Next Steps for Building Your Perfect Space
Now that you understand how the basic UX of the Cosmos Space Builder works, you can start creating your own custom digital spaces.
If you want to learn more about building specific types of spaces, check out our other helpful guides:
