Cesium – An open-source JavaScript library for 3D globes and maps | Hacker News Reader

Cesium – An open-source JavaScript library for 3D globes and maps

cesiumjs.org

For those not familiar with WebGL community. Cesium guys are the key contributors to the whole WebGL ecosystem. They for example are main authors of the glTF standard for delivering 3D assets optimized for the browser (adopted by many engines). Also the main reference book that gathers community knowledge 'WebGL Insights' is edited by the Cesium founder.

Don't mean to hijack, but if you're interested in 3D globes (and 2D projections), NASA has been working on porting World Wind to Web:

https://github.com/NASAWorldWind/WebWorldWind

and

http://webworldwind.org

The power of WebGL is awesome!

That's amazing! And is all the imagery in public domain?

Edit: I see 'bing', so maybe not. Also, if anyone related to the project is looking, the elevation model is extremely noisy and likely broken, so wrapping the imagery around DEM might need to uhh be looked at.

There is a mix of imagery in the public domain and available through commercial providers. You can even specify your own WMS source!

Interesting note on the elevation model, if you've got a second, can you open an issue on the github site with a screenshot of what you are seeing?

I feel like the UI in this would benefit from an arcball-style rotation with some momentum from drag gestures.

Like this: https://www.webglearth.com

Navigation/Rotation is inherited from the original Java based World Wind in an effort to provided similarity to users wishing to change platforms. A little different from the arcball-style, I agree, but at least there is a reason :)

There are plans to add momentum gestures to our Android platform (https://github.com/NASAWorldWind/WorldWindAndroid). Perhaps it should be added to the Web version as well?

I like the momentum, but on mobile (iPad) each move is a new place in my back history.

It isn't really fair to posters of a neat open source project for the top reply to be a hijack pointing people at a competing project, even if it does say "don't mean to hijack."

I totally agree and Cesium is a really cool project and I encourage people to check it out (the number of interesting applications they showcase is really impressive). Just proud of what our team has come up with and wanted to share.

That sounds like a ShowHN would be a better fit than a comment.

I disagree, more exposure is good

This is from the same people that make Systems Toolkit (STK), which is well-known and used a lot in the space industry. They know what they're doing.

I used Cesium.js for a visualization project for one of my clients a few months back and was pleased at how well the engine was designed. As someone interested in globe-based graphics rendering, I found a lot of interesting insights in the book the Cesium developers wrote, "3D Engine Design for Virtual Globes":

https://www.amazon.com/3D-Engine-Design-Virtual-Globes/dp/15...

Note for anyone using HTTPS Everywhere: The demo currently doesn't work over HTTPS, due to 'http://cesiumjs.org/Cesium/Build/Apps/CesiumViewer/index.htm... being served over HTTP.

A related effort is Terria which uses both Cesium and Leaflet for 3D and 2D mapping. Kevin Ring contributes to both Cesium and Terria.

https://github.com/TerriaJS/terriajs

http://nationalmap.gov.au/

Does it handle the usecase where KML has tracks that cross the -180/+180 latitude boundary?

Been there. I feel your pain.

This seems like it would work really well to transition users from Google Earth and other closed-source globes to more open data sources. Specifically, this would be hugely valuable for developers in the military, disaster response, and intelligence communities and opens up the possibility for more quickly prototyping geospatial "Common operating pictures"

That said, as a day-to-day developer short of star mapping or orbits I'm not sure I prefer the globe format to a flat earth projection. Cool to see this open source and I'll definitely keep it in mind.

Cesium does have a flat earth projection built in as well (there's a wireframe globe in top right of main page demo, and clicking it allows you to switch between 3D and 2D).

Holy shit this is smoother on my iPhone than scrolling is on most websites on my laptop O.O

Very cool! Couldn't find a way to generate a link to a direct spot on the map, but if you go to Kennedy Space Center you can see the shuttle external fuel tank and booster rockets on the pad (no shuttle though).

Does anyone know of published data indicating the rate of support for advanced(ish) WebGL like this among everyday consumers?

I realize it's a bit of a vague question but would be grateful if anyone had some insight.

In terms of browser support: http://caniuse.com/#feat=webgl

http://webglstats.com/ is great.

Wow, this is phenomenal.

This would be cool for a tiny world globe project I have with longitude and latitude . I wonder how I could make use of this

The demo link in the hero image didn't work for me, but the links to community projects further down the page did.

This is awesome. I am going to try and hook this up to our geoserver instance via WMS

This is excellent.

Pinch and zoom doesn't seem to be quite right on iOS 10.

Didn't show in latest chrome

Crashed Browser Didn't Read

Same here, I think it has something to do with WebGL

One of the reasons why I fired my bizdev guy was that he didn't see there was a problem with Linkurious not using their own product on their own web site. (i.e. Linkurious uses WebGL)

Which browser/os/gpu versions ... These issues can be fixed but only if bugs are filed

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