Good Morning Ed,
I wanted to follow-up on Don's email. I've written a lot of code to
convert 2D OpenMap objects into a 3D scene the user can fly over. I've
got a screen shot on the web at
http://www.siliconspaceships.com/GeoVirgil3D.html. The picture shows
Viking imagery of Mars draped over Martian topology that has been
exaggerated by a factor of 5. The black and white imagery has been
colored based on elevation data so blue regions are lower then green
regions. Note that the horizon curves; both topology and imagery are
put on the surface of a large sphere so if you're doing a large region
you don't have to worry about map projection errors. It also allows
you to seamlessly fly around the globe (and, you can do it with a
joystick!).
Is there interest in an add-on product to OpenMap that will take the
elevation data, shapes, annotations, images, etc. from all your layers
and create a 3D view? The API could allow you to customize how the
scene is constructed (which region, what resolution, which layers,
etc.) and control how the user can move the eye point (perhaps to
simulate a particular aircraft or ground vehicle). Since I'm not
independently wealthy, the 3D add-on couldn't be free. But if there is
sufficient interest, a license for the API and documentation and
technical support could be priced at maybe US$10,000 along with an
annual upgrade fee and perhaps a small runtime license. This API could
also include a bunch of 2D image processing software (brighten, blur,
edge detect, etc.) that works with OpenMap layers if people think it
would be useful.
The code is pure Java (except for the joystick driver) and I've run it
on OS X and Windows. Feel free to email questions or ask for a demo.
Since I'm in Boston, demos in New England are pretty easy. I'll be in
LA next week and in the Baltimore/Washington area in early March.
Steve McDonald
617-628-2696
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Received on Wed Feb 16 2005 - 08:16:33 EST