OSM-3D-Edit: 3D editing tools for OpenStreetMap

What is the project about?

The OSM-3D-Edit project is developing software that makes it easier and faster to contribute 3D data to OpenStreetMap. Three-dimensional renderings and city models are increasingly becoming standard in everyday applications such as online maps and navigation apps, but users are often dependent on proprietary providers. For 2D maps, OpenStreetMap, a project supported by a large international community to create a free world map, has long established itself as an open alternative. OpenStreetMap could also take on this role for 3D map data, as the technology for generating 3D views from OpenStreetMap already exists. However, the appropriate tools for capturing such data in a low-threshold and large-scale manner are still lacking. The goal is therefore to offer editing tools that make newly captured or modified 3D data immediately visible through a real-time preview. Immediate feedback motivates users, makes 3D editing more intuitive, and allows errors to be corrected before they are uploaded to the OpenStreetMap database. Wherever possible, these tools should be integrated directly into common editor programs for working with OpenStreetMap data.

Which audience does the project address?

The target group consists of experienced OpenStreetMap contributors in regions of the world where the OpenStreetMap community has already created a broad database and the focus is therefore increasingly on detailed work and data quality. Here, 2D data is already sufficiently or excellently documented, but 3D data collection often fails due to a lack of tools. Indirectly, all users of OpenStreetMap should benefit and new users should be attracted.

What is to be achieved?

The core of the 3D editing tools will be a real-time display that makes changes to the data immediately visible. This should work both on the Java Virtual Machine and in web-based applications. Integration into OSM editors will initially be implemented using the JOSM plugin architecture.