Web-based data visualization of an MMO virtual regatta using a virtual globe

Abstract

In this paper we present the methods and techniques used to visualize the trajectory of the participants of a massive virtual regatta using a virtual globe in the web browser. The emergence of new web technologies, such as HTML5 and WebGL, have opened new avenues for visualizing and sharing 3D data. However, web-based visualization of big data is still challenging, as the power of the web browser for 3D visualization has still not reached the level of desktop applications. In this work, we use WebGL to visualize the path of the 17000 virtual boats that participated in the MMO game of the Barcelona World Race 2015, and present optimization strategies for the rendering of this Big Data (which is otherwise impossible to render in a web context on standard consumer hardware). We also combine this optimization with a render-to-texture approach to visualize the density of the boat routes, rendering and visualizing the data progressively, and using web workers for processing and managing the data.