About this website

What does it do?

Birdvue (pronounced /ˈbɝdvjuː/, like 'Birdview' ) takes the GPS path of an outdoor activity and generates a 3D map of its surroundings. The goal is to output a nice image, ready to be kept as a memory or shared with friends. As opposed to other tools, Birview uses raytraced rendering instead of real-time 3D. Raytracing allows a much better-looking, physically accurate representation of light.

Does creating an image contribute to heating up the planet?

A little, yes. 3d renders take some computer power to be created. Calculating the path of light to know where it bounces, where it creates shadows, and how it dissipates in the environment is a resource-intensive process. Bidview runs on Scaleway’s DC5 data-center, which uses an adiabatic cooling system claimed to reduce power and water usage. Based on their data, I estimate each render consumes around 20wH. Enough to power an LED lightbulb for two hours.

about.t3

about.p3

Who made this?

This website is made by me, Etienne. I made the design as well as the software. The traces featured on the homepage are from my personal adventures. I use this website to view my own outdoor trips and run it on my own server. Everyone is welcome to use it but there is no guarantee it will be up tomorrow. Enjoy it while you can!

This entire website is built with open-source technologies and data. Thank you Blender, Blender-osm, NodeJs, RaspberryPi, Svelte. Thanks to Lluisa Iborra for her illustrations.