A municipal GIS can manage and provide large volumes of different types of geospatial data.
However, when it comes to massive datasets such as 3D city models, oblique images, panoramic services and point clouds, the limits of such GIS systems are often reached. This is where the virtualcitySUITE from the Berlin-based software company virtualcitySYSTEMS GmbH (VCS) comes in.
The virtualcitySUITE is a modular solution which allows 3D city models, oblique aerial images, point clouds and traditional 2D geodata to be processed and simply presented online. The company does not aim to replace existing applications and services, but to add additional functionality to them. So the focus is very much on functions to manage and visualise 3D geodata and to visualise oblique aerial images and point clouds.
3D webmapping application that are created using the virtualcitySUITE can be easily connected to existing GIS and information systems via a programming interface and URL parameters. For example, URL parameters can be used to switch directly from an existing map application to an oblique image view or a 3D city model. This enables a quick assessment of the area and also allows to measure heights of objects in the 3D or oblique views.
Viewed the other way around, it is also possible to integrate existing geodata services into a virtualcityMAP so that they can be shown as additional layers in a 3D map view. Queries to existing services and integrating addresses and POIs are easy to implement too. Customisability is also a real benefit: Users of the virtualcitySUITE can easily create applications (apps) for different user groups.
virtualcitySYSTEMS offers all the modules of the virtualcitySUITE as software for operation within existing infrastructure or as hosted solutions.