The reason why we originally started to develop Re-Earth is simple: It was to attempt to realize the Digital Earth concept which had been popularized by a speech former US vice president Al Gore gave in 1998. The concept of Digital Earth revolves around creating a comprehensive and interactive virtual representation of our planet, incorporating various geospatial data and enabling users to explore and analyze Earth's features and phenomena.
Since then, this vision has captured the imagination of many people, particularly in the GIS (Geographic Information System) community. Numerous individuals and organizations have embraced the Digital Earth concept and have embarked on developing innovative projects and tools aligned with its principles. This has resulted in a rich ecosystem of interesting and valuable contributions, pushing the boundaries of geospatial technology and enhancing our understanding of Earth's complexities.
However, given the heavy nature of GIS tools, they have typically required a host machine, which would need to be a highly-spec PC. More importantly, advanced technological knowledge in GIS would be necessary to handle them. We started this project with a desire to make this digital earth idea accessible and easy to use for everyone.
Re-Earth strives to be a part of this dynamic landscape, contributing its own unique perspective and capabilities to the ongoing evolution of the Digital Earth concept. By providing a platform that enables the seamless integration of diverse geospatial data sources, powerful visualization tools, and collaborative features, Re-Earth aims to empower users to explore, analyze, and communicate geospatial information in new and meaningful ways.
Once we were satisfied with the foundation we had built, we then decided to release it to the public as OSS, hoping to involve more developers in the project and make it a truly global software that is created by, and used by, people from all over the world.
We hope that many people will come together and grow a great community along with this project.
The Re-Earth project's main aim is to develop a chance to allow everyone to visualize any data by using the digital earth easily without any coding.
To make sure we are always aiming at making Re-Earth better and better for the user we have a roadmap that we manage here that outlines new features and QOL improvements we have planned.
Some of the currently planned features are:
