Low Poly Earth – The whole planet in 3D, built from OpenStreetMap data

What it does

Pan and zoom from orbit to street level. Search for any place by name. Press P to fly. Three vehicles: Kestrel, Phase Manta and Sparrow. Set the date, time and weather. Save the view as a 4K image. 231 landmarks are modelled individually, from cathedrals and castles to towers and temples. Here are 15. Can you find all 231? Elevation for the whole planet, with finer detail where national data exists. Buildings, roads and water from OpenStreetMap. Buildings follow the local style of their region. The sun, moon, stars and aurora follow the date, time and location. Step the clock by an hour with [ and ]. Simulated clouds, rain, snow and fog, with seasonal snow cover. Not a live forecast. Saved…from lowpolyearth.pages.dev

• 
  Poly by Google2017 · ▲639

  Explore the world of 3D

• 
  Flatmap – a new tool to make vector tiles from OpenStreetMap data fast2021 · github.com · ▲158

  Flexible tool to build planet-scale vector tilesets from OpenStreetMap data fast - onthegomap/planetiler

• OO
  OpenFreeMap – Open-Source Map Hosting2024 · openfreemap.org · ▲848

  Hi HN, After 9 years of running my own OpenStreetMap tile server infra for MapHub (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11389989), I've open-sourced it and launched OpenFreeMap. You can either self-host or use our public instance. Everything is open-source, including the full production setup — there’s no 'open-core' model here. Check out the repo (https://github.com/hyperknot/openfreemap). The map data comes from OpenStreetMap. I also provide weekly full planet downloads both in Btrfs and MBTiles formats. I aim to cover the running costs of the public…

• 
  Get any piece of Google Earth as a single normalized glTF 3D model2023 · github.com · ▲177

  Google released an API in May to get fetch 3D Tiles of anywhere on Earth. Using this in standard 3D engines like Blender is tricky because (1) the tiles are in a geographic coordinate system (2) you get a lot of little tiles at varying quality levels I wanted to simplify this so all you need to do is get an API key, select a map region and a zoom level, and get one combined glTF file that you can throw into any engine. Especially if you're just prototyping and want to see how this data looks in your engine before investing in figuring out all the nuances of the API & coordinate system. (Note…

• G3
  Global 3D topography explorer2025 · topography.jessekv.com · ▲118

  I made a web app to generate 3D models of real places on earth from land cover and elevation data. Click anywhere on the map to get a polygon, and then click "generate". It should work at most scales, but if your watershed or region selection is too large, the result can be less exciting because it's so flat. As a warning, the 3D models can sometimes be too much for my phone. It's nicer on desktop. I'm still working better on mobile support. The land cover data I'm using gives a cool effect, but at some point I'd like to add in global imagery and clouds. The backend is a Python thread…

• MA
  Metiq: a real time 3D globe for 100 public datasetsJun 2026 · metiq.space · ▲148

  The concept for metiq.space came after playing Global Magnates with friends and realizing how fragmented live global data is. ships, aircraft, satellites, ports, weather, hazards, infrastructure, cyber, and public datasets all exist, but they usually live in separate tools and maps. The goal was to build one interactive 3D globe where live public data could be visualized by latitude, longitude, and altitude. Surface data stays on the globe, while aircraft, satellites, and other above surface things can be represented in actual 3D space instead of being flattened onto a map. The outcome is an…

• 
  SimCity, but with Permits▲830

  A free city-building game in your browser. You are the mayor. You know what the city needs. Now get it past the zoning board, the neighbors, the appeals court and the next election.

  Life & fun · 18h ago · permit.petercai.com

• IV
  I've been paying for a rural Tanzanian's education for 10 years▲778

  Life & fun · 13d ago · tanzaniaeducationproject.org

• 
  Bigwords.page – Turn any screen into a sign. The URL is the app▲728

  Turn a phone, tablet or TV into a sign. Type a message and it fills the screen: welcome signs, timers, Wi-Fi passwords and more. No app, no account, free.

  Life & fun · 14d ago · bigwords.page

• 
  Guitoro, a virtual guitar you strum with your keyboard▲573

  Play a free virtual guitar online with your keyboard or by touch. Slow songs down and see every chord, string and strum. Acoustic, classic, electric and bass.

  Life & fun · 8d ago · guitoro.com

• 
  See *almost* any carriers phone settings▲432

  Carrier settings from iPhone, Pixel and Galaxy firmware, decoded and compared: APNs, VoLTE, 5G and Wi-Fi Calling per carrier, and what each build changed.

  Life & fun · 12d ago · carrierexplode.com

• 
  The whole Solar System and every tracked satellite, live in the browser▲407

  Life & fun · 22d ago · space.bl2.net

• 
  An e-ink frame that hears birds and draws them as 1800s illustrations▲2,389

  E-ink bird frame for Raspberry Pi - real-time bird detection by audio, fully local AI, rendered as real, hand-cut 1800s bird illustrations. - arnegiacomo/fugleramme

  AI · Sep 2026 · github.com

• WI
  What if the speed of light was 5 km/h?▲629

  Special relativity simulator in which light crawls along at a human speed, so Lorentz contraction, aberration and Doppler shift happen at walking pace.

  Life & fun · Sep 2026 · rivendell.dmitrybrant.com

• 
  Jev▲544

  Fast, structured AI decisions for software automation

  AI · Sep 2026 · console.typesafe.ai

• 
  ReSO AI▲510

  Get discovered & recommended when customers ask AI

  AI · Sep 2026 · resollm.ai

• 
  Kilo Code for iOS and Android▲498

  Start coding agents, control sessions, review PRs. Anywhere.

  Dev tools · Sep 2026 · kilo.ai

• 
  AINA▲497

  Find your job search blind spots with an AI coach

  AI · Sep 2026 · aina-tech.io