GeoBed3D

3D GeoJSON viewer built on CesiumJS. Load GeoJSON files, explore them on a satellite terrain globe, and model causal dynamics with the FCM (Fuzzy Cognitive Map) tool.

Live demo: https://hcilab.no/geobed3d/ — password: Sintef0373

Open data

All data layers in GeoBed3D are sourced from free, open services — no proprietary data required.

Layer	Source	Where to get it
3D terrain	Cesium World Terrain (via Cesium Ion)	ion.cesium.com — free account
3D buildings	Cesium OSM Buildings (via Cesium Ion)	ion.cesium.com — free account
Roads, labels, outdoor basemap	OpenStreetMap via Maptiler	maptiler.com — free tier
Satellite imagery	ESRI World Imagery (ArcGIS)	No key required — used as default basemap
Live sun & atmosphere	CesiumJS built-in	No key required
Geotagged photos	Wikimedia Commons	No key required — fetched by location automatically
Live AIS ship traffic	BarentsWatch	barentswatch.no — free account, register an API client

Setup

1. Copy the config template and fill in your keys:

cp config.example.json config.json

Edit config.json:

Key	Where to get it
CESIUM_TOKEN	ion.cesium.com — free tier
MAPTILER_KEY	maptiler.com — free tier
BW_CLIENT_ID / BW_CLIENT_SECRET	barentswatch.no — free, format: email:AppName
SITE_PASSWORD	Any string to password-protect the app; leave empty to disable

config.json is gitignored and never committed.

2. Run locally:

python3 server.py

Open http://localhost:8765.

Deployed (PHP host): upload all files including config.json alongside proxy.php. The app works without any keys — terrain and basemap fall back to flat/ESRI satellite.

Test files

Sample files are in test_files/:

File	What it tests
test-geojson.geojson	Standard GeoJSON — points, lines, polygons with styling properties
test-fcm.geojson	FCM (Fuzzy Cognitive Map) format — nodes + edges for causal map animation

Drag and drop them into the viewer to try it out.

GeoJSON format

GeoBed3D reads standard GeoJSON with optional custom styling properties (color, title, note, noteimage, icon, etc.).

• Styling guide — geojson-manual.html
• Example file — test_files/test-geojson.geojson

FCM (Fuzzy Cognitive Map)

Load a GeoJSON FeatureCollection where Point features are nodes and a top-level edges array defines weighted causal links. Hit FCM to animate propagation to equilibrium.

• Example file — test_files/test-fcm.geojson

Future work

• More open data — expand built-in data layers: weather, elevation profiles, administrative boundaries, and additional free global datasets
• Live data integrations — connect to external APIs for real-time feeds beyond AIS: ocean sensors, metocean data, IoT streams, and vessel tracking services
• Bathymetry and ocean focus — dedicated support for underwater terrain, seafloor mapping, and ocean data visualization as a first-class use case
• Session persistence — save and restore the state of loaded layers, active toggles, and camera position across sessions
• CMS / API layer — a backend content and data management layer for GeoBed3D, enabling organisations to publish, version, and serve geospatial datasets directly to the platform (Sanity.io? Pocketbase?)

Acknowledgements

This platform was created by the HCI group of SINTEF Digital and XR Lab Norway as a testbed for projects with geographical data and related visualizations.