Visualizations for the digital twin

We develop technologies to visualize large geospatial datasets as the foundation for the digital twin. Whether point clouds, 360° panoramic images or city models, we have the necessary expertise not only to render these data sources visually, but also to design and implement interaction concepts.

Capturing combined 360° panoramic images with point clouds offers a wide range of possibilities for digitalizing planning processes. An interactive visualization allows users to conveniently examine real events from a computer. One example of this is our Fibre3D software, which facilitates the digital planning of fiber optic lines. The 360° panoramic images provide the starting point for visually capturing streets and, for example, viewing locations for network distribution boxes. At the same time, the point cloud provides the necessary spatial information to carry out precise measurements and place objects in 3D space.

To view panoramic images and point clouds, we rely on web technologies such as Potree. Combined with our cloud-based data preparation services, this enables convenient interaction with data sets of any size directly from the browser.

The geo-viewer-lib software library is a powerful solution for 3D geodata entity management. It offers a broad range of functionalities that go beyond existing approaches such as Ol-Cesium and RESIUM. One of the outstanding features of the geo-viewer-lib is the interface for all 3D and 2D web engines. It enables seamless integration of Cesium 3D Globus and OpenLayers 2D maps, allowing users to switch between both views. This synchronous display gives users full control over their geodata in both dimensions. The library offers a variety of geometries, including 3D models, boxes, lines, points, icons, rectangles, circles and corridors. Users can plot these geometries in their application and interact with them. This includes moving the camera, selecting objects and drawing shapes. The geo-viewer-lib also supports various layer types, such as WMS, TMS, GeoJSON and 3D Tiles. This enables users to integrate geodata from different sources in their application and visualize it seamlessly. Overall, the geo-viewer-lib offers a comprehensive solution for 3D geodata entity management. It outperforms existing approaches and features a flexible interface for all 3D and 2D web engines, . With its support of different geometries, interactions and layer types, it enables a versatile and interactive representation of geodata in 3D and 2D.

The potential for urban planning in the age of the “smart city” is considerable, provided that all stakeholders are involved digitally in a straightforward manner. By preparing existing information in a graphical system, complex interrelationships can also be explained simply and efficiently to non-specialists. The ability to visualize and discuss one’s own ideas makes the process dynamic and helps to approach new planning projects in a playful way. This makes the planning process transparent, democratic and dynamic, and increases acceptance of the results. In recent years, the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD has developed various visualizations for stakeholder applications in a number of projects (3DVIS, urbanAPI, AktVis, PaEGIE; see below). This experience and technology is now flowing into a spin-off activity based on a 2D/3D online participation platform funded by the internal Fraunhofer AHEAD program.

A test application was developed and tested as part of the Darmstadt digital city laboratory. Further applications are being developed for interested municipalities. This enables the city administration to initiate citizen participation campaigns without programming knowledge and to drive forward the digital transformation. Mobility in the city, planning of e-charging stations or how to get around with as little impact on the climate as possible – smarticipate brings these and other topics to life in an interactive and citizen-oriented way.