[OSM-dev] GSoC Introduction

[Tobias Knerr]

Hello André,

welcome and thank you for considering OpenStreetMap as a mentoring
organization.

I'm going to reply only to those questions I'm qualified to answer, see
below. I hope someone from the JOSM community will take the time to
respond to your other questions.

On 09.03.2015 13:36, Andre Pereira wrote:
> 
> *a) Recording and Playback of Camera Movement in OSM2World*
> 
>    Do you have a format in the works or is it up to the student to
> develop it?

I assume you refer to the file format for the camera path.
Determining which format(s) is/are suitable for the task is part of the
project. It is likely that formats like gpx (which is used a lot in the
OSM ecosystem) or kml might fit the bill, though. If those formats are
insufficient for the intended functionality, a custom format may also be
created.

> *b) A WebGL frontend for OSM2World*
> 
>     What is the format of the 3D data tiles?
> 
>     Do you want full 3D camera movement?

The 3D data tiles are going to be in a custom binary format, which is
going to be developed hand in hand with the WebGL client. The tiles will
contain mostly pre-calculated 3D models from a server running the actual
OSM2World software. The client's task is to load, cache, arrange, and
render the 3D content as efficiently as possible. Part of the challenge
lies in the rather large amount of data that needs to be transferred and
visualized.

Ideally, the WebGL client should allow full 3D camera movement, although
I would still consider an otherwise working client with restricted
movement a successful completion of the project.

> Can you please tell me which of these projects are top priority, so that
> I can focus in one of them?

The final priority ranking is determined only after the student
applications have arrived, by a vote of all project mentors. They will
take not only the project into account, but also the skills and
qualifications of the student(s) applying for a project. Among the
projects I have offered to mentor, however, the WebGL frontend is
clearly my main priority.

Kind regards,
Tobias Knerr