[mapserver-dev] Updated Google Maps API and 3D

[Fabian Schindler]

Steve,

In the past months I experimented a lot with 2.5D maps and virtual 
globes. Basically it boiled down to applying textures (from a WMS 
service) to a client generated mesh (the data comes either from a WCS or 
WMS). This approach is called a thick client. The JavaScript library I 
used was GlobWeb [1] (Demo: [2]), but there are others aswell (I also 
looked into Cesium [3]). On the server side, nothing needs to be 
changed, as the tile requests are quite the same as for a traditional 
flat map. There is no apparent need to introduce camera Metadata for 
WMS/WCS, and I guess OpenLayers 3 will work similarly.

For an upcoming project we also had a chance look in the W3DS standard 
draft [4]. It is closely related to WMS with its protocol and parameters 
and serves "real" 3D objects (meshes) with its textures. The default 
exchange format is X3D [5], though others are possible aswell. We would 
very much appreciate this feature in MapServer, as we already rely on 
MapServer for raster data. We would also be able to contribute if required.

Regards,
Fabian


[1] https://github.com/TPZF/GlobWeb
[2] http://demonstrator.telespazio.com/GlobWeb/
[3] http://cesium.agi.com/
[4] http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=36390
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X3D


On 12/03/2012 10:36 PM, Stephen Woodbridge wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Sorry for the cross posting. The following article which is thin on 
> details raise some interesting questions in my mind related to 
> Mapserver and OpenLayers.
>
> http://www.zdnet.com/google-dives-deeper-on-vector-based-maps-with-api-update-7000008233/?s_cid=e550 
>
>
> I know OpenLayers 3 is looking at potentially adding camera model to 
> support tilted views. Would this be a static definition to support 
> tiling? Or would the camera be able to be dynamically changed? This 
> seems a lot like Google Street View.
>
> Has any thought been given to support for 2.5D or 3D features? Is 
> there a need for this?
>
> If mapserver supported rendering orthogonal views or even a camera 
> view model them a guess a layer could be defined to pass that 
> information to mapserver to render in the same.
>
> Mapserver devs - there was some discussion about supporting 2.5D 
> objections like buildings. In light of Google and Apple moving in 
> these directions is this an area that we should be discussing for a 
> future version. Should be be looking at a more flexible viewing model 
> like a camera model as an option.
>
> It looks like the OGC is working on this also, google "ogc web 3d 
> service".
>
> Seems like these questions should be discussed if they are not already 
> being discussed.
>
> Thanks,
>   -Steve
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