A case study on 3D geospatial applications in the web using state-of-the-art WebGL frameworks

Abstract

We evaluate three Open-Source WebGL frameworks (X3DOM, three.js and Cesium) and investigate their use for geospatial applications in the Web. Over the course of one year we carried out five case studies and developed different software prototypes using these frameworks. We focus on geospatial applications since they require unique features that bring the evaluated WebGL frameworks to their limits. Geospatial data is typically heterogeneous and very large. Geospatial applications require special data management and interaction techniques. We describe the criteria that we defined to test the WebGL solutions and present our experience from working with them. We give a qualitative comparison and finish the paper with conclusions and an outlook on future research perspectives.