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World 3 of Glass WorldsIn development

A living Cretaceous lakeshore in a glass case.

Real animals from one real fossil assemblage, the Jehol Biota of Liaoning, China, about 125 million years ago. They feed, bask, hunt and hide under your real sun, moon and seasons, on your Mac desktop. Every animal carries a label that says what the fossils show and what we had to infer.

Join the waitlist What's real, and how we know

A Launchpad Technology product

Illustration of the planned glass case A line drawing of a glass case. Inside are a small lake, conifers, ferns and a distant volcano with a faint plume. Below the ground, the case shows layers of ash and lake mud in cross-section. volcanic hills, ash plume shallow lake ash and mud layers
Fig. 1 · Illustration of the planned case. Not a screenshot.

Status, 12 October 2026

Dinoglass is in development. The engine, the world model and a fact-checked research file on the Jehol animals exist. The animals, plants and tools are being built now. There are no screenshots on this page because there is nothing finished to screenshot yet. We will show real in-engine captures when there are some, and not before.

I. The place and the time

A real lakeshore, about 125 million years ago.

The case is modelled on the Jehol Biota: the animals and plants preserved in the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, north-east China. It is one of the best fossil windows anywhere, because fine volcanic ash and still lake mud kept feathers, fur outlines and even pigment.

Where
Western Liaoning, China. Small freshwater lakes between low volcanic hills, at about 42° north.
When
The Early Cretaceous, about 125 million years ago (the Barremian stage).
Climate
Seasonal and cool to mild. One study puts the mean air temperature near 10 °C; plant evidence allows warmer. We show crisp light, lake mist and yellowing ginkgo, not jungle.
Ground
No grass anywhere: grasses were not yet part of this landscape. Ferns, horsetails, low Ephedra-like shrubs, conifer and ginkgo litter, and bare grey ash.
Water
Calm lakes, clear to slightly murky green-brown. Not tropical turquoise.
Volcanoes
Distant, with occasional fine ashfalls that dust the leaves and the water. No lava show.
  1. Jiufotang Formation c. 120 Ma, younger. Not in the case: Microraptor comes from here, so we leave it out.
  2. Yixian Formation c. 125.8 to 124.1 Ma. Everything in the case comes from here.
  3. Jianshangou Bed Lake shales, c. 125.6 to 125.4 Ma Sinosauropteryx, Confuciusornis, Haopterus, Jeholodens
  4. Ash and tuff layers
  5. Lujiatun beds Volcanic sediments, c. 125.8 to 125.5 Ma Psittacosaurus juveniles, Repenomamus, Jeholosaurus
  6. Older volcanic rocks

Yutyrannus: which bed it came from is unknown (see its label below).

Schematic · not to scale · ages approximate

Animals from two fossil beds laid down within a few hundred thousand years of each other. The Lujiatun and Jianshangou beds are dated to within a few hundred thousand years of each other (uranium–lead dating, Zhong et al. 2021; argon–argon dating, 2022), so putting their animals side by side is close to a true snapshot. Where we borrow from a different bed or a relative, the animal's label says so.
  1. 145 MaCretaceous begins
  2. c. 125 MaThe Jehol lakeshore: this case
  3. c. 68 to 66 MaTyrannosaurus
  4. 66 MaCretaceous ends
So no Tyrannosaurus in this case: it lived about 57 million years later. The big predator here is its early, feathered relative Yutyrannus.

II. The cast, with evidence labels

Every animal says what we know, and what we guessed.

Museum labels, not marketing. Evidenced means a fossil shows it. Inferred means we reasoned it from relatives or physics, and Debated means scientists disagree. In the case, tap any animal to read its label.

Highlight

  1. Specimen 01 · small hunter

    Sinosauropteryx

    About 1 m long, mostly tail. Jianshangou Bed.

    • EvidencedIts colour pattern survives as fossil pigment: a dark mask through the eye, a banded tail, and a pale belly with a sharp line on the flank (Smithwick et al. 2017).
    • EvidencedLizard and small-mammal remains have been found in its gut.
    • DebatedThe actual hue. An early "ginger" reading is disputed, so we use a neutral warm brown and say so.
    • InferredLips covering the teeth when the mouth is closed, as in other theropods.

  2. Specimen 02 · the resident colony

    Psittacosaurus, juveniles

    A crèche of youngsters, 20 to 60 cm. Lujiatun beds.

    • EvidencedJuveniles buried together: six that died side by side (Zhao, Barrett & Eberth 2007), aged two to three years by bone histology (Zhao et al. 2014).
    • EvidencedCountershading and a dark face, mapped from pigment on one exceptional Psittacosaurus fossil (Vinther et al. 2016).
    • InferredThat pattern comes from a specimen of unknown origin and species, so on our juveniles it is borrowed by analogy.
    • InferredNo adult stands guard. The famous "34 babies and a parent" slab is probably a composite, so we don't show one.

  3. Specimen 03 · the mammal that ate a dinosaur

    Repenomamus

    Badger-sized, low-slung, strong-jawed. Lujiatun beds.

    • EvidencedOne was fossilised with a juvenile Psittacosaurus in its gut (Hu et al. 2005).
    • EvidencedAnother was buried locked onto a Psittacosaurus, gripping its jaw and leg (Han et al. 2023).
    • InferredFur and colour: no fur is preserved, so a grizzled grey-brown coat is reasoned from mammal relatives.

  4. Specimen 04 · the rare visitor

    Yutyrannus

    About 9 m as an adult. Far too big for the case, so only its head and neck reach in.

    • EvidencedLong filaments, 15 to 20 cm, preserved on its neck, arms, hips and tail (Xu et al. 2012). A feathered early tyrannosaur.
    • DebatedExactly where it was found. The fossils came through dealers, so the bed is unknown and the "hunted in a pack" idea is unconfirmed. We show it alone.
    • InferredA full-body coat, extended from the patches that survive.

  5. Specimen 05 · birds in the conifers

    Confuciusornis

    Pigeon to crow-sized, toothless beak. Jianshangou Bed.

    • EvidencedA keratin beak, three clawed fingers on each wing, and two long tail streamers on many (not all) specimens.
    • EvidencedSpotted wing, crest and throat feathers, confirmed as melanin (Li et al. 2018). The hues are not known.
    • DebatedFlocks. Many were found together, which could mean flocks or repeated deaths in one place.

  6. Also in the case · planned

    The supporting cast

    All from the Yixian Formation.

    The pterosaur Haopterus (not a dinosaur; it walks on all fours on the ground), the long-necked lake reptile Hyphalosaurus, the small feathered dinosaurs Caudipteryx, Sinornithosaurus and Beipiaosaurus, the tiny mammal Jeholodens, the lizard Dalinghosaurus, shoals of the fish Lycoptera, and mayflies at dusk.

    The first release targets five or six species, so this list may shrink. Left out on purpose: Microraptor (younger rocks), crocodiles (absent from the Jehol), grass, palms and flowers.

III. Living cycle

Hunting and surviving, on its own.

Switch on Living cycle and the lakeshore runs itself. Animals get hungry, thirsty, tired, cold and afraid, and act on it. Hatchlings grow, the old die, and the plants grow back. Predator and prey keep each other in balance, with gentle limits so the case never empties.

Real hunts, no gore. A kill is seen at a distance or cut away. What you see next is the aftermath: the carcass, and the scavengers arriving in turn.

  1. Sinosauropteryx hunts lizards and small mammals gut contents
  2. Repenomamus ambushes a straggling young Psittacosaurus gut contents
  3. Yutyrannus arrives rarely; the crèche scatters and the birds flush behaviour inferred
  4. Psittacosaurus juveniles huddle at night, bask at dawn and browse ferns behaviour inferred
  5. Ashfall drifts in from a distant eruption and dulls the lake ash beds
How the field log reads (example lines, not a recording)
  1. A Sinosauropteryx caught a lizard at the lake edge. Field note: lizard bones are known from its gut.
  2. The Psittacosaurus crèche left the huddle to bask.
  3. Fine ash began to settle on the water.

IV. What you can do

Watch, or lend a hand.

Planned for the first release. Each tool changes the world, and the animals respond in their own way.

  • Feed

    Drop fern fronds or cones and watch the plant-eaters re-route, then squabble by size. A carcass brings the scavengers in turn.

  • Weather

    Rain fills the hollows and fogs the glass. Wind sways the conifers and carries scent. Cold sends animals to bask.

  • Spark a fire

    A lightning strike or an ember starts a fire. Wind and slope drive it, animals flee, and the ground regrows over the season.

  • Follow a dinosaur

    Pick one animal and the camera stays with it, documentary-style, through its day.

  • Field notes

    Tap any animal to see what it is doing and why, with a one-line note on the evidence behind it.

V. On your Mac

Your desktop, set 125 million years back.

  • A living wallpaper. Dinoglass is planned to run behind your windows, and wake up when you want to interact.
  • On your clock. The real time of day, moon and season drive the light, and when the animals are busy or resting.
  • One app, every world. Glass Worlds for Mac, the app that will hold every world, is in development and will be free for everyone who has bought a world. Until it ships, each world you buy comes as a single offline file that opens in your browser.
  • Lock screen. A pre-recorded loop of the case, because macOS doesn't allow live graphics on the lock screen.
  • Kind to your Mac. It is built with quality levels and a frame-rate cap for always-on use. We'll publish the macOS versions it supports and its real power use before anything goes on sale.
Launch price — confirming

Pricing

These are the launch prices we propose. They are not confirmed yet, and Dinoglass isn't on sale, so there is no Buy button. Join the waitlist and we'll email you once, when it is. Prices include UK VAT.

One world

Dinoglass on its own

£4.99 / $6.49, one-off

Launch price — confirming

  • Dinoglass to keep, as an offline file that opens in your browser, and in the Glass Worlds Mac app, free, once it ships
  • Includes its lock-screen loops
  • Available when Dinoglass is released

Included in All Worlds

All Worlds, lifetime

£39.99 / $52.99, one-off

£19.99 for the first month after launch, then £39.99

Launch price — confirming

  • Every world we publish in Glass Worlds, Dinoglass included when it's released
  • Licensed for personal use on your own devices
  • One payment, nothing to renew

Join the waitlist

Want to see a Glass World working now? Reefglass is the first world, and is the furthest along. Dinoglass will also be in the planned Deep Time & Future collection of four worlds, £12.99; see every option. Schools and venues: education and display licences are planned; ask us at contactus@launchpadtechnology.co.uk.

VI. Questions

Fair questions.

When will Dinoglass be ready?

We aren't giving a date yet. It is the third Glass World, after Reefglass and Antglass, and it ships when its animals pass our accuracy review. Waitlist members hear first.

Is it a game?

Not really. It is a living scene you can watch or nudge: there are no scores, levels or lives. Think of a terrarium that happens to hold a Cretaceous lakeshore.

How accurate is it?

As accurate as we can make it, and honest where it can't be. The cast comes from one fossil assemblage. Every claim was checked against published research, then put through a second pass that tried to disprove it. Where the evidence runs out, the animal's label says "inferred" or "debated" rather than pretending.

Why no T. rex, or Velociraptor?

Both lived tens of millions of years later: Tyrannosaurus in North America, Velociraptor in Mongolia. Mixing eras is the one thing we won't do. The Jehol has its own feathered tyrannosaur relative, Yutyrannus, and small feathered hunters of its own.

Is it suitable for children?

That is the intent. Animals do hunt, because that is how they lived, but kills happen at a distance or off-camera, with no blood or gore.

Does it work on Windows, iPad or in a browser?

Glass Worlds is Mac-first. The engine runs in a web browser, and Reefglass has a browser demo planned; we'll say here if Dinoglass gets one.

What happens when I join the waitlist?

We keep your email address and the worlds you're interested in. We email you when Dinoglass goes on sale, plus occasional Glass Worlds news, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe. We never share or sell your address.

Who makes Glass Worlds?

Launchpad Technology Ltd, a UK software company based in Bourne, Lincolnshire. Questions: contactus@launchpadtechnology.co.uk or 0330 133 4432.

The waitlist

Be told when the case opens.

One email when Dinoglass goes on sale, and occasional Glass Worlds news. Nothing else.

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