CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascripthtmlgoogle-maps3d
Royi Namir
Royi Namir

Reputation: 148744

3D representation of Google Maps/Routes?

I need to build a 3d live map of current airplane flights. It needs to be able to run on a browser without downloading any plugin (cough Google Earth cough).

I already managed doing something similar with google map :

enter image description here

But I need to be able to show it in a 3d - globe POV :

something like : enter image description here

Is there anything I can do in google maps to make them globe-3d or is there something else (API) which I can use ?

Upvotes: 6

Views: 1871

Answers (3)

Cybercartel
Cybercartel

Reputation: 12592

You can use the mercantor projection to map the sphere coordinate to the Google maps tiles, I. e. pixelcoordinate. Then you can choose an open source library to draw to the canvas and then add some simple matrices transformation to rotate the globe. The tile mapping works with a quad key. It's describe here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb259689.aspx.

Upvotes: 1

Thomas James
Thomas James

Reputation: 707

I remember seeing a tweet, I think by Paul Irish that allowed you to alter google maps using css to create a globe shape.

http://updates.html5rocks.com/2012/09/Interactive-Globe-with-CSS-shaders-Google-Maps

Don't know if it has been updated as it was the latest Chrome only but it may be worth taking a look.

Upvotes: 1

ty.
ty.

Reputation: 11132

A good starting point may be webgl-globe from the Google Data Arts team. It's built on three.js and webgl:

enter image description here

You'd have to change the bars to arcs, but it's a start :)

A caveat: webgl is the best way to get interactive 3d in the browser without other dependencies, but it isn't supported by safari or IE yet, or if the user is missing graphics drivers.

Upvotes: 8

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