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Cesium Ecosystem Grants Directory

Cesium awarded grants for the following projects, each demonstrating a commitment to grow the open 3D geospatial ecosystem.

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  • Flow velocity over an agricultural field simulated with r.sim.water, GRASS's implementation of the SIMWE model (SIMulated Water Erosion), draped on lidar-derived terrainGRASS

    OGC 3D TILES 1.1 SUPPORT FOR GRASS
    Dr. Corey White, North Carolina State University

    GRASS is one of the longest-standing and most widely used open-source geospatial analysis platforms in academia, government, and research institutions worldwide. Through this grant, Dr. Corey White and collaborators will bring support for OGC 3D Tiles 1.1 to the GRASS ecosystem, enabling users to export geospatial analysis results directly into Cesium and other 3D Tiles-enabled platforms. The project will focus on developing core export capabilities, documentation, tutorials, and community engagement activities to accelerate adoption across the open-source geospatial community. By improving interoperability between GRASS and modern 3D geospatial visualization platforms, this work helps lower barriers for researchers and practitioners seeking to share and explore large-scale geospatial datasets in immersive 3D environments.

  • We the People

    BUILDING A DIGITAL CULTURAL HERITAGE EXPERIENCE FOR GBEREFU ISLAND
    Shellie Baxter, Our Genetic Legacy / We The People Museum

    Shellie Baxter's project demonstrates the power of geospatial technology to preserve, communicate, and celebrate cultural heritage. This grant will support the creation of the Cesium-based technical foundation for an immersive digital museum experience focused on Gberefu Island, an important historical site connected to the transatlantic slave trade. The project will leverage Cesium for Unreal, CesiumJS, and 3D Tiles workflows to create engaging public experiences that make history more accessible through interactive storytelling and exploration. The committee viewed this as a compelling "Cesium for Good" initiative that combines technological innovation with meaningful public engagement and cultural preservation.

  • CASMA demoKevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech

    CESIUM-POWERED AEROSPACE ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
    Dr. Bradley Denby, Virginia Tech

    As geospatial and aerospace industries continue to converge, there is growing demand for engineers who understand both spatial computing and space mission analysis. Dr. Bradley Denby's project will create CesiumJS-based aerospace engineering coursework and certification pathways that introduce undergraduate and graduate students to satellite design, mission planning, and space systems analysis using Cesium technologies. The resulting educational materials will provide hands-on learning opportunities while helping prepare the next generation of engineers and researchers to work with open 3D geospatial technologies. The committee was particularly excited by the project's potential to combine workforce development, academic impact, and long-term ecosystem growth.

  • Web 3D Consortium Grant Recipient Web3D Consortium Logo

    3D TILES IN X3D
    Anita Havele, Executive Director, Web3D Consortium

    This project expands the 3D Tiles ecosystem by creating a pipeline to stream massive 3D geospatial datasets using X3DOM, an X3D-based browser for visualization of interactive 3D on the Web. The end result will provide an efficient way to store and transmit 3D data in a tiled format using X3DOM, allowing for the visualization of large-scale 3D scenes in real time. This work will bring synergy and interoperability to two popular—but disconnected—international open geospatial standards: X3D and 3D Tiles. The project will be managed by the Web3D Consortium in partnership with its members, EarthStruct, Virginia Tech, MBARI, and Versar. 

  • Planetary Parfait Ecosystem Grant RecipientASU Digital Discovery Initiative Ecosystem Grant recipient

    PLANETARY PARFAIT
    Lauren Gold, Arizona State University

    JMARS (Java Mission-planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing) is an open source, widely adopted tool for planetary data analysis, available to NASA scientists, mission teams, and the public for over two decades. The Planetary Parfait project from the JMARS team will turn Cesium Moon Terrain into a tool to collect planetary data, support collaborative analysis, and assist astronaut training. The result will be an open source generalizable system that reconciles various coordinate systems and map projections, enabling seamless integration of custom science data layers with Cesium’s Moon Terrain.

  • threeJS imagery grant recipient Demo on Mount FujiGarrett Johnson Grant Recipient Logo

    IMAGERY AND QUANTIZED MESH SUPPORT FROM CESIUM ION TO 3D TILES PLUGIN FOR THREE.JS
    Garrett Johnson

    This follow-up grant to Garrett Johnson will focus on expanding the 3DTilesRendererJS project’s support for basic geospatial visualizations (topographic lines) and available data formats (TMS, QMesh) for Three.js. Expanding on quantized mesh support, support for Cesium ion imagery will be added to the 3D Tiles renderer, affording users access to Cesium’s bathymetry, night, Bing, and more image data sets on the quantized mesh terrain in Three.js. The result of this grant will increase the geospatial capabilities of Three.js while also connecting Cesium ion more closely with the Three.js ecosystem.

  • AtomEngine Example Battle Road Ecosystem Grant Recipient Battle Road Logo Ecosystem Grant Recipients

    CESIUM PLUGIN FOR GODOT
    Battle Road

    Battle Road, developer of AtomEngine, a platform for modeling and simulation at planet scale, will create an open source Cesium plugin for the Godot Asset Library using Cesium Native. Godot Engine is the largest cross-platform, free, and open source game engine. The Cesium plugin will bring the most performant and precise 3D data to this global audience.

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  • VR Division Grant Recipient ProjectVR Division Logo Grant Recipient

    AEC TRAINING PATH
    Yahiya Jassem, VR Division

    VR Division will create an open training pathway aimed at AEC professionals looking to bring their projects into full 3D geospatial context leveraging Unreal Engine and Cesium. This open training path will take professionals through a real-world scenario where they will develop a virtual city model with detailed geospatial data and interactive elements. Participants will: 1. Apply 3D geospatial data to create a contextual environment. 2. Develop interactive 3D applications with real-time data updates. 3. Optimize projects for performance and visual quality. VR Division is an Unreal Authorized Training Partner focused on helping architects, designers, and property developers better showcase their work through interactive digital solutions.

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  • 3D buildings from Melbourne in QGISNorth Road and Lutra logo Ecosystem Grant Recipients

    3D GLOBE IN QGIS
    North Road and Lutra Consulting

    A previous Cesium Ecosystem Grant enabled this team to expand the 3D Tiles ecosystem by providing access to 3D Tiles within QGIS, an open source desktop GIS application with over a million users. This new project will bring a geospatially-accurate 3D globe to QGIS, creating the perfect context for 3D Tiles. This fulfills a critical need for QGIS users, enabling access to 3D data at global scale alongside all other standard geospatial layers. This project is the next step towards greater access to 3D geospatial tools in the open source QGIS ecosystem.

  • YouthMappers Grant RecipientYouthMappers Logo Grant Recipient

    YOUTHMAPPERS 3D
    Michael Mann, George Washington University

    This project, in collaboration with YouthMappers and implemented by The George Washington University, improves community resilience and sustainability by training young people in 3D geospatial technologies. Leveraging YouthMappers' extensive network across 74 countries, the initiative will develop and pilot a comprehensive 3D mapping training program in regions prone to natural disasters. It will champion local community 3D data collection in Open Street Map (OSM), which will bring additional buildings with metadata to the open ecosystem, including Cesium OSM Buildings. The initiative will also train young developers in using this 3D Tiles dataset with Cesium ion and Cesium for Unity to create geospatial projects that respond to local disasters, such as simulating flood impacts in urban areas.

  • Close up image of Mars landscape, partially ocvered in a grid of tiles outlinesGarrett Johnson Grant Recipient Logo

    3D TILES IN THREE.JS
    Garrett Johnson

    3DTilesRendererJS is an open source library originally developed by NASA/Caltech-Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) that enables efficient rendering and interaction of 3D Tiles in Three.js. This grant project will add expanded support in 3DTilesRendererJS for the 3D Tiles specification—specifically new metadata expansions—as well as features for enabling data overlays useful for understanding 3D Tiles Mars terrain data from NASA JPL.

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  • WebODM Cesium Pipeline Grant RecipientAeroAI Logo Grant Recipient

    WEBODM REINTEGRATION
    Osarodion Victory Igbinobaro, AERO AI

    AERO AI created the Simulated Environment for Geospatial Assets (SiEGA) platform, which integrates a diverse array of 3D technologies within a sophisticated physics engine. Their Cesium Ecosystem Grant supports the WebODM Reintegration Project, supporting the WebODM Cesium plugin. The plugin will allow the seamless integration of georeferenced maps and models generated in Open Drone Map (ODM), a free and open source drone imagery processing platform, with Cesium ion. This will enable users from AEC, environmental conservation, geospatial analysis, and beyond to benefit from the ability to integrate, process, analyze, and visualize aerial data and 3D geospatial information.

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  • GISWorld Grant recipient imageMohammad Hosseingholizadeh, GISWorld, Ecosystem Grant Recipient Logo

    CESIUMJS TUTORIALS: BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE 3D GEOSPATIAL LEARNING PLATFORM
    Mohammad Hosseingholizadeh, GISWorld

    GISWorld, a tech startup, has introduced GISWorld Academy on YouTube, intending to make geospatial knowledge accessible to all. The academy's primary objective is to equip individuals with skills in various open source geospatial tools. This project will introduce a series of 10 tutorials on using CesiumJS and harnessing it in the open 3D geospatial ecosystem. Tutorials will showcase CesiumJS capabilities and how to use it with other geospatial tools and software, such as QGIS, Blender, and geospatial databases, thereby highlighting its full potential in 3D visualization.

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  • Pelican Mapping visual for Ecosystem Grant Recipient Pelican Mapping Logo, Ecosystem Grant Recipient

    INTEGRATING CESIUM NATIVE INTO OSGEARTH
    Jason Beverage, Pelican Mapping

    osgEarth is an open source project that has been in development for nearly 15 years and has been deeply integrated into a large number of important programs across various industries and relied upon by hundreds of thousands of users globally. Integrating Cesium Native into osgEarth will provide first class access to Cesium’s core technologies like 3D Tiles and Cesium ion for users of these programs and more. Because of osgEarth’s modular architecture, users will immediately be able to visualize data using Cesium Native by editing a few lines of XML in their Earth File – adding Cesium ion layers without requiring any code changes to their core applications.

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  • IFC BIM picture, grant recipient IFC OpenShell Logo, Ecosystem Grant Recipient

    IFC TILING PIPELINE
    Thomas Krijnen, IfcOpenShell

    This project and the Cesium platform will uplift BIM (Building Information Modeling) and its main open source exchange standard (IFC) into semantic city models and scalable digital twins, fostering collaboration and innovation. Grant project will include open documentation with performance characteristics and a usage guide on how to get a model to convert successfully along with a working software implementation extended with performance optimizations and the ability to render geospatially referenced glTFs.

  • Spatial Opportunity Lab visual, Grant Recipient Wentworth Institute of Technology Logo, Ecosystem Grant Recipient

    SPATIAL OPPORTUNITY LAB
    Ryan Thomas, Wentworth Institute of Technology

    Ryan Thomas, an adjunct professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology is launching the Spatial Opportunity Lab, teaching students to leverage open-source and low-threshold geospatial. Beyond integrating practical, hands-on experience with geospatial tools formally into the curriculum, the Spatial Opportunity lab will contribute to the broader educational community and the built environment industry through community engagement with local-to-Boston partnerships and an online repository of open tutorials.

  • North Road and Lutra logo Ecosystem Grant Recipients

    3D TILES IMPLEMENTATION IN QGIS
    Emma Hain, North Road with Lutra Consulting

    This collaborative project between North Road Consulting (AUS) and Lutra Consulting (UK) expands the 3D Tiles ecosystem by providing access to 3D tiles within QGIS, an Open Source desktop GIS application with over a million users. This fulfills a critical need for QGIS users, permitting access to 3D data alongside all other standard geospatial layers. For current Cesium 3D Tiles users, it will enable an Open Source desktop option. In the Open Source ecosystem of QGIS, this project is the first step on the roadmap toward the use of processing and interoperability tools with 3D tiles.

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  • Visual of Turkey earthquake from Hidenori Watanave, Ecosystem Grant recipient

    DIGITAL ARCHIVES OF WAR AND DISASTERS
    Hidenori Watanave Laboratory, The University of Tokyo

    Today, we live in an age of frequent severe global disasters that occur every year. However, the "memories of disasters" are quickly overwritten and forgotten. By building a "digital archive" with the grant and communicating the "memories of disasters" to the world, we seek to create a motivation for society to "learn from the past and apply it to the future". The participation of young people, including students, will make these activities sustainable.

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  • Agora World Logo, Grant Recipient Ethan Berg

    GEOFORALL: SIMPLIFYING 3D GEOSPATIAL METAVERSE CREATION
    Ethan Berg, Agora World

    Agora World offers a user-friendly, no-code 3D geospatial metaverse design platform, democratizing access to and empowering users to create immersive experiences. By integrating Agora World with Cesium, our goal is to create an intuitive and easy-to-use 3D geospatial metaverse design platform so everyone, no matter the device they have or the technical expertise they have, can create in 3D geospatial.

  • Vietnam War Missing in Action (MIA) Support - Cesium Ecosystem Grant RecipientGradata Systems logo, Ecosystem Grant recipient

    VIETNAM WAR MISSING IN ACTION (MIA) SUPPORT
    Peter Kimberley, Gradata Systems

    A historical research team from University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Gradata Systems has mapped Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. This new project’s mission is to assist the Vietnamese people (through the Vietnamese Government) with finding their ancestors who were casualties in the Vietnam War. There are an estimated 300,000 Vietnamese soldiers' remains that have not been found to date.