LabBridge

LabBridge is a first-person 3D virtual science lab that runs in the browser. It has four benches (microscopy, titration, circuits and analytical) and Dr. Curie, an AI lab manager who walks the lab floor, watches your experiment and steps in when something goes wrong.

Run

bun install        # or npm install
cp .env.example .env.local   # set GEMINI_API_KEY
bun run dev

Without GEMINI_API_KEY, the lab still runs, but Dr. Curie shows as offline.

Architecture

• lib/labStore.ts: the single source of truth for all experiment state, plus the pure simulation functions (titration pH, Ohm's law). The 3D scene, the HUD and Dr. Curie all read from and write to it.
• lib/curie.ts: Dr. Curie's brain. There is one shared conversation, and every request includes a live lab-state snapshot. Any actions she takes through tool calling are applied to the store. It also runs the proactive "lab manager" rules (endpoint overshoot, no indicator, high current).
• app/api/assistant/route.ts: the Gemini endpoint. It takes the conversation history and lab state, exposes function declarations for lab actions, and returns proper HTTP errors when something fails.
• lib/curieNPC.ts: Dr. Curie in 3D. She walks to your bench, turns to face you and tracks you with her head. She uses public/models/dr-curie.glb if it exists.
• lib/assetLoader.ts: the glTF/Draco/Meshopt pipeline. Real .glb models listed in public/models/manifest.json replace the procedural placeholders automatically.
• components/Lab3DScene.tsx: the Three.js scene. It is built once, frees its GPU resources on unmount, and uses image-based lighting.

Making it look real

The current geometry is procedural placeholder art. See:

• docs/ASSET_SPEC.md: the exact model list, sizes, node names and polygon budgets.
• docs/CLAUDE_DESIGN_PROMPT.md: the prompt for the art direction, UI and Dr. Curie design.