Open-ended challenges are allowed so I am considering creating a viewer for NASA’s freely available 3D Models. Although this app isn’t likely to go viral, it does fit into the theme of making data more accessible and it lines up nicely with the development I’m currently doing. I envision the app being something like:
- Browse models by thumbnail, perhaps like the Sandcastle examples
- Search for models, again perhaps like Sandcastle
- Display a model in the 3D Cesium window in a realistic context, e.g., satellites in orbit
- Display a model’s metadata
- Allow selection of individual model parts to display metadata
- Allow downloading the model in the original format
- Allow commenting on models / social media integration
NASA’s models are in all sorts of formats so I’ll need to test converting a few beforehand. I can’t promise how many of them work with Cesium yet so it’s possible that this challenge won’t be feasible, but I’ll know more as I continue to work on models in early April.
I’m happy to work with one or two folks that know how to make web UIs. I’m also happy for other folks to just steal this idea completely.
Patrick