Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is out with its first Indian Earth Observation Visualization tool at – https://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/ . So far we all used to depend on google maps and google earth applications to get maps and 3D visualization. Reports say that more than 60000 people registered as soon as this project was launched for its beta testing. But many of us were totally discouraged to usethe application as it was vendor locked by forcing Internet community to stick to Internet explorer, DirectX and other proprietary applications. Internet users such as myself have been using firefox, opera and other browsers where in we can’t see whats really Bhuvan has got for us. Looks like it is totally an ignorance of who ever is responsible to deliver such application. An OS independent application is what is needed when entire web is moving towards web3.0 for better user experience and advancements. A small survey of web users would have been resulted in a good design and solution. Hope ISRO learns this very fast during Bhuvan’s beta testing and come out with the right solution that is needed soon.
Further Readings:-
Deccan Herald report by Deepa Kurup and Divya Gandi has got more info about this – Bouquets and brickbats for Bhuvan mapping portal