Cesium’s accurate 3D geospatial data is transforming industries
December 11, 2024
Over the past few years, 3D photogrammetry has seen huge leaps forward, enabling vast swathes of our world to be captured and recorded digitally. This process results in datasets that are truly massive, however.
Traditionally, industries that use datasets of this size—like simulation or defense—have developed powerful bespoke platforms and tools to handle its processing. For the average developer working outside of these fields using regular hardware, large-scale 3D geospatial data has largely been off limits.
With the release of Cesium for Unreal back in 2021, that changed. For the first time, the vast scale and complexity of 3D geospatial modeling could be visualized in real time using game engine technology.
Now, anybody could use highly detailed and accurate 3D geospatial data via an off-the-shelf solution. This led to an upsurge in the development of interactive 3D geospatial apps and experiences across aerospace; commercial real estate; urban planning; flight planning and operations; autonomous driving; underground and undersea exploration; and many more industries.
The architecture industry in particular has benefited enormously from the merging of 3D geospatial modeling with real-time visualization—firms can showcase their designs in the exact real-life context in which they will be built, for example.
And now with the announcement that Cesium is joining Bentley, developers using Cesium have access to an infrastructure ecosystem representing some of the world’s largest and most significant projects and assets.
By combining Cesium’s geospatial platform with Bentley’s iTwin platform, it’s possible to seamlessly align 3D geospatial data with engineering, subsurface, IoT, reality, and enterprise data to create digital twins that scale from vast infrastructure networks to millimeter-accurate details of individual assets, viewed from land, sky, sea, space, and deep below the Earth’s surface.
In this article, we’ll explore how Cesium and Unreal Engine are transforming visualization in architecture, and look at some exciting new developments that are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
Traditionally, industries that use datasets of this size—like simulation or defense—have developed powerful bespoke platforms and tools to handle its processing. For the average developer working outside of these fields using regular hardware, large-scale 3D geospatial data has largely been off limits.
With the release of Cesium for Unreal back in 2021, that changed. For the first time, the vast scale and complexity of 3D geospatial modeling could be visualized in real time using game engine technology.
Now, anybody could use highly detailed and accurate 3D geospatial data via an off-the-shelf solution. This led to an upsurge in the development of interactive 3D geospatial apps and experiences across aerospace; commercial real estate; urban planning; flight planning and operations; autonomous driving; underground and undersea exploration; and many more industries.
The architecture industry in particular has benefited enormously from the merging of 3D geospatial modeling with real-time visualization—firms can showcase their designs in the exact real-life context in which they will be built, for example.
And now with the announcement that Cesium is joining Bentley, developers using Cesium have access to an infrastructure ecosystem representing some of the world’s largest and most significant projects and assets.
By combining Cesium’s geospatial platform with Bentley’s iTwin platform, it’s possible to seamlessly align 3D geospatial data with engineering, subsurface, IoT, reality, and enterprise data to create digital twins that scale from vast infrastructure networks to millimeter-accurate details of individual assets, viewed from land, sky, sea, space, and deep below the Earth’s surface.
In this article, we’ll explore how Cesium and Unreal Engine are transforming visualization in architecture, and look at some exciting new developments that are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
3D geospatial data for the masses
Cesium is an open platform for the development of software applications that use 3D geo spatial data. It’s used by developers to create accurate and interactive 3D geospatial applications.
The platform started out at aerospace software company Analytical Graphics, Inc. (now Ansys) as an application designed for visualizing objects in space. Led by computer graphics expert and Cesium founder Patrick Cozzi, this project produced the world’s most accurate and performant virtual globe.
“When we thought that it might have potential beyond aerospace, we decided to release it to the community as open source,” says Cozzi. “Shortly thereafter, use cases exploded across industries.”
One of the first was Red Bull X-Alps, the world’s toughest adventure race, which began using CesiumJS to track the journey of paragliders through the mountains. Since then, CesiumJS has had more than 10 million downloads, and now powers thousands of applications.
Even the big man in red has got in on the action—CesiumJS is used by NORAD Tracks Santa to track Santa’s journey around the world on December 24.
In 2019, Cesium spun out as an independent company and began offering Cesium ion, a SaaS platform for hosting, tiling, and streaming 3D geospatial data. Over the years, it’s added open source offerings for multiple platforms including Unreal Engine in addition to CesiumJS
The platform started out at aerospace software company Analytical Graphics, Inc. (now Ansys) as an application designed for visualizing objects in space. Led by computer graphics expert and Cesium founder Patrick Cozzi, this project produced the world’s most accurate and performant virtual globe.
“When we thought that it might have potential beyond aerospace, we decided to release it to the community as open source,” says Cozzi. “Shortly thereafter, use cases exploded across industries.”
One of the first was Red Bull X-Alps, the world’s toughest adventure race, which began using CesiumJS to track the journey of paragliders through the mountains. Since then, CesiumJS has had more than 10 million downloads, and now powers thousands of applications.
Even the big man in red has got in on the action—CesiumJS is used by NORAD Tracks Santa to track Santa’s journey around the world on December 24.
In 2019, Cesium spun out as an independent company and began offering Cesium ion, a SaaS platform for hosting, tiling, and streaming 3D geospatial data. Over the years, it’s added open source offerings for multiple platforms including Unreal Engine in addition to CesiumJS
Streaming solves a heavy data problem
“The problem with 3D geospatial data is that it’s massive and unwieldy,” says Cozzi.
Cesium solves this problem with 3D Tiles. 3D Tiles is the Open Geospatial Consortium Community standard created by Cesium for streaming massive 3D geospatial datasets.
3D Tiles makes 3D geospatial data lightweight and streamable without losing detail or accuracy. The Cesium platform ingests many disparate types of 3D geospatial data and converts it to 3D Tiles, enabling it to be streamed anywhere.
Because the data is streamable rather than being pre-loaded and managed through local datasets, the user workflow is much easier. With the release of Cesium for Unreal, high-fidelity, complex, and extremely large geospatial datasets can be visualized much more simply in Unreal Engine.
The open source plugin brings a precise 3D virtual globe into Unreal Engine and has been used to create advanced visualizations and simulations across industries, from defense and intelligence to simulation and training.
Cesium solves this problem with 3D Tiles. 3D Tiles is the Open Geospatial Consortium Community standard created by Cesium for streaming massive 3D geospatial datasets.
3D Tiles makes 3D geospatial data lightweight and streamable without losing detail or accuracy. The Cesium platform ingests many disparate types of 3D geospatial data and converts it to 3D Tiles, enabling it to be streamed anywhere.
Because the data is streamable rather than being pre-loaded and managed through local datasets, the user workflow is much easier. With the release of Cesium for Unreal, high-fidelity, complex, and extremely large geospatial datasets can be visualized much more simply in Unreal Engine.
The open source plugin brings a precise 3D virtual globe into Unreal Engine and has been used to create advanced visualizations and simulations across industries, from defense and intelligence to simulation and training.
“At Cesium, we’re on a mission to advance 3D geospatial, so combining the strengths of Unreal Engine with Cesium’s global scale, precision, performance, and interoperability was a no-brainer,” says Cozzi.
In recent times, many firms in the AEC industry have been leveraging Cesium to better communicate their design vision. “Cesium empowers AEC professionals with the ability to explore their projects in precise 3D geospatial context,” Cozzi explains. “Instead of using only 2D images and diagrams to communicate with stakeholders, users can create and share accurate and immersive 3D environments to give them a better idea of the planned reality.”
Among their more recent AEC clients, BIM and 3D modeling solution provider Palatial uses Cesium for Unreal to provide realistic experiences, and get buy-in for pre-built structures; Drip Visual drives urban planning in the Netherlands with their Cesium for Unreal-based platform for collecting required community input, and APlace uses the plugin to enable potential customers to visualize and customize architecture for their homes before they exist.
In recent times, many firms in the AEC industry have been leveraging Cesium to better communicate their design vision. “Cesium empowers AEC professionals with the ability to explore their projects in precise 3D geospatial context,” Cozzi explains. “Instead of using only 2D images and diagrams to communicate with stakeholders, users can create and share accurate and immersive 3D environments to give them a better idea of the planned reality.”
Among their more recent AEC clients, BIM and 3D modeling solution provider Palatial uses Cesium for Unreal to provide realistic experiences, and get buy-in for pre-built structures; Drip Visual drives urban planning in the Netherlands with their Cesium for Unreal-based platform for collecting required community input, and APlace uses the plugin to enable potential customers to visualize and customize architecture for their homes before they exist.
Cesium for Epic ecosystem tools
Beyond Cesium for Unreal, Cesium has become increasingly integrated with other tools in the Epic ecosystem, including RealityCapture, Sketchfab, and Unreal Editor for Fortnite.
Photogrammetry software RealityCapture produces highly detailed 3D models that can consist of millions of polygons. It’s often impossible to view these models on regular hardware—you can simplify them to fewer triangles so they’ll run more smoothly, but at the expense of losing detail.
Now, RealityCapture supports export to Cesium’s 3D Tiles format and upload to Cesium ion. This makes sharing highly complex models over the web as easy as sharing a link. Even multi-gigabyte models can be shared on the web without losing detail, since 3D Tiles makes it possible to stream in only the data needed for any given view.
Similarly, a Cesium integration with Sketchfab enables users to import any of over 700,000 free Sketchfab models into their projects and place and explore them in precise geospatial context.
Currently, Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) does not support C++ plugins like Cesium for Unreal. However, it’s possible to bring portions of 3D Tiles into UEFN thanks to the clipping feature in Cesium ion.
Clipping enables users to specify parts of 3D Tiles to make available for download for offline or non-streaming use cases. With Cesium ion, you can also download the specified tiles as a single glTF model and bring this into any application with glTF support—including UEFN.
With clipping, it’s possible to bring accurate, real-world terrain and high-resolution photogrammetry into Fortnite islands. Check out this article to learn how to import a model of a real-world stadium into UEFN, then set up a soccer field to play with friends.
Photogrammetry software RealityCapture produces highly detailed 3D models that can consist of millions of polygons. It’s often impossible to view these models on regular hardware—you can simplify them to fewer triangles so they’ll run more smoothly, but at the expense of losing detail.
Now, RealityCapture supports export to Cesium’s 3D Tiles format and upload to Cesium ion. This makes sharing highly complex models over the web as easy as sharing a link. Even multi-gigabyte models can be shared on the web without losing detail, since 3D Tiles makes it possible to stream in only the data needed for any given view.
Similarly, a Cesium integration with Sketchfab enables users to import any of over 700,000 free Sketchfab models into their projects and place and explore them in precise geospatial context.
Currently, Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) does not support C++ plugins like Cesium for Unreal. However, it’s possible to bring portions of 3D Tiles into UEFN thanks to the clipping feature in Cesium ion.
Clipping enables users to specify parts of 3D Tiles to make available for download for offline or non-streaming use cases. With Cesium ion, you can also download the specified tiles as a single glTF model and bring this into any application with glTF support—including UEFN.
With clipping, it’s possible to bring accurate, real-world terrain and high-resolution photogrammetry into Fortnite islands. Check out this article to learn how to import a model of a real-world stadium into UEFN, then set up a soccer field to play with friends.
To the metaverse and beyond
There have been several reports in the past year forecasting exponential growth in the construction sector. At the same time, we’re reading that new builds are on the decline due to a pandemic-era glut and rising costs associated with supply chain, safety regulations, and financing.
For Cozzi, the integration of geospatial context with 3D visualization and simulation could help alleviate some of these snags that are holding the industry back.
“While we don’t have a crystal ball, the digital transformation of the construction industry is already solving some of these potential problems by making the entire industry more efficient, safe, and cost-effective,” he explains. “The solutions we’re building along with our partners are addressing issues such as labor shortage, cost management, and environmental impact. Overall, we have a positive outlook on the future of the industry.”
As well as playing a part in the architecture of the physical world, Cesium has set its sights on a pivotal role in the virtual one. “There are three ways Cesium is making an impact in the metaverse,” says Cozzi. “One is by bridging the digital and physical worlds by making it easy to bring real-world data into 3D experiences. We’re providing the software components to represent digital twins and store and stream massive amounts of data.
“Second, by creating and advancing the 3D Tiles open standard, we are providing the solution for streaming this data to the wider world. And lastly, we are using our voices and time to advocate for a metaverse that is fair, open, and interoperable.”
While the metaverse is still in its infancy, there are a growing number of high-profile projects leveraging Cesium for Unreal today.
For Cozzi, the integration of geospatial context with 3D visualization and simulation could help alleviate some of these snags that are holding the industry back.
“While we don’t have a crystal ball, the digital transformation of the construction industry is already solving some of these potential problems by making the entire industry more efficient, safe, and cost-effective,” he explains. “The solutions we’re building along with our partners are addressing issues such as labor shortage, cost management, and environmental impact. Overall, we have a positive outlook on the future of the industry.”
As well as playing a part in the architecture of the physical world, Cesium has set its sights on a pivotal role in the virtual one. “There are three ways Cesium is making an impact in the metaverse,” says Cozzi. “One is by bridging the digital and physical worlds by making it easy to bring real-world data into 3D experiences. We’re providing the software components to represent digital twins and store and stream massive amounts of data.
“Second, by creating and advancing the 3D Tiles open standard, we are providing the solution for streaming this data to the wider world. And lastly, we are using our voices and time to advocate for a metaverse that is fair, open, and interoperable.”
While the metaverse is still in its infancy, there are a growing number of high-profile projects leveraging Cesium for Unreal today.
Recently, NBC Sports, the official broadcast partner of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, used the plugin for 3D graphics televised during live broadcasts to give the audience an idea of the geospatial context of Olympic venues.
Projects like this and the Ocean Exploration Trust, which uses Cesium for Unreal for its real-time underwater modeling and immersion project, give a small taste of the sorts of applications we might see the plugin being used for in the future.
Projects like this and the Ocean Exploration Trust, which uses Cesium for Unreal for its real-time underwater modeling and immersion project, give a small taste of the sorts of applications we might see the plugin being used for in the future.
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