Building a 3D Future: How Bentley Systems and Cesium are Transforming Infrastructure Through Open-Source Innovation

The Year in Infrastructure Conference, hosted by Bentley Systems in Vancouver, became a stage for showcasing the future of digital infrastructure, with a compelling keynote from Patrick Cozzi, founder of Cesium and now Bentley’s Chief Platform Officer. Cozzi took attendees on an in-depth journey through Cesium’s path from a visualization tool for aerospace to an industry-defining, open-source geospatial platform now powering Bentley’s ambitious vision for infrastructure engineering.

Cesium, known as an open-source platform for creating highly detailed 3D applications, has made significant strides since Bentley’s acquisition, demonstrating a groundbreaking approach to digital infrastructure. Addressing a full auditorium, Cozzi highlighted Cesium’s evolution and Bentley’s vision to create a world where digital twins, geospatial data, and 3D models work together seamlessly, all powered by Cesium’s robust capabilities.

A Journey Rooted in Community, Ecosystem, and Openness

Cozzi began his talk with a simple yet profound realization: Cesium’s growth wasn’t scripted but rather an organic evolution shaped by three main principles—community, ecosystem, and openness. “It wasn’t like I had some grand vision 13 years ago,” Cozzi admitted, reflecting on how Cesium was shaped by the community’s needs. In the beginning, Cesium’s potential as an open-source software grew through continuous engagement with developers who found applications for it that Cozzi hadn’t imagined. “The vision became bigger through community interaction,” he explained, noting that this ethos of openness and community support has only deepened under Bentley’s umbrella.

Cesium was born out of AGI (Analytical Graphics, Inc.) and designed initially for aerospace visualization. But with the rise of web standards like WebGL in 2011, Cesium could now deliver 3D visualization directly in a web browser. This advancement aligned perfectly with the Kronos Group’s WebGL standards for hardware-accelerated 3D on the web, marking a pivotal moment in Cesium’s journey. Cozzi and his team began to explore broader applications, including digital twins and geospatial use cases, which led them to open-source Cesium’s codebase and engage with the developer community.

“Cesium’s journey was a natural progression,” Cozzi remarked, and the company started to see its capabilities transform industries. Cesium’s early work with organizations like Red Bull, which used the platform for real-time tracking of athletes in the Alps, showed the potential for Cesium in geospatial visualization and digital twin technology. “Seeing Cesium power this digital twin experience was an eye-opener; we realized we were creating something far beyond aerospace visualization,” he added.

Bentley’s Acquisition: A New Chapter in Interoperability and 3D Innovation

Bentley’s acquisition of Cesium marks an essential shift toward realizing a shared vision of an open, interoperable digital twin platform capable of supporting a range of applications from urban infrastructure to expansive natural environments. By combining Cesium with Bentley’s iTwin platform, Cozzi sees an opportunity to enhance data interoperability, ensuring that developers can integrate data from multiple sources seamlessly.

The collaboration is already bearing fruit. The introduction of 3D Tiles, an open format for streaming massive 3D data models, allows Cesium to expand its functionality within Bentley’s infrastructure suite, making it possible to visualize complex engineering data alongside geographic information in real-time. “With 3D Tiles, we wanted to unlock interoperability and let users view massive datasets like point clouds or photogrammetry models in their proper geospatial context,” Cozzi explained. 3D Tiles has since become a foundational piece of the open-source community, embraced by various organizations, including government agencies.

Collaboration with the World’s Largest Developers: From Komatsu to Unreal Engine

One of Cesium’s strengths under Bentley is its flexibility and adaptability to industry needs through collaborative partnerships. This flexibility was demonstrated through Cozzi’s example of Komatsu, a global leader in construction machinery, which leverages Cesium’s open-source tools in its Smart Construction initiative. The program, which uses drones and digital twins for site management, exemplifies how Cesium’s open-source framework can drive efficiency, improve safety, and reduce environmental impact in construction. “Komatsu’s vision aligned perfectly with our ethos,” said Cozzi, emphasizing Cesium’s role in digitally transforming the construction industry.

Another prominent collaboration that Cozzi shared involved Unreal Engine, the real-time 3D rendering engine by Epic Games. Unreal’s interest in Cesium’s 3D Tiles technology demonstrated the platform’s capacity to bridge real-time 3D modeling and geospatial applications. “Our mindset was to build bridges, not silos,” Cozzi explained, sharing how Cesium’s plugin for Unreal Engine allowed developers to integrate geospatial data seamlessly into highly realistic 3D simulations. The collaboration with Epic Games even inspired Cesium to establish an ecosystem grant program, providing funding for community-driven open-source projects that enhance interoperability.

Advancing Digital Twins with Government and Industry Support

Cesium’s work has extended to government collaborations, notably with the U.S. Army’s One World Terrain program, which selected 3D Tiles as the standard for virtual terrain training. Cozzi explained how government support helped advance open standards and led to Cesium’s involvement with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), where the 3D Tiles standard became an integral part of geospatial workflows across different sectors. By promoting 3D Tiles as an open standard, Bentley and Cesium have created a foundation that empowers developers to build immersive digital twins for both government and commercial use.

One example Cozzi shared was Cesium’s application in the NBC Sports coverage of the Paris Olympics, where Google’s photorealistic 3D tiles, Unreal Engine, and Cesium’s plugin combined to create virtual fly-throughs of Olympic venues across Paris. “It’s these types of applications that let us show people what we do in a way they can understand,” he said, noting the powerful impact of seeing digital twins in mainstream media.

A New Frontier: Infrastructure on Earth—and Beyond

In a surprising twist, Cozzi touched on Cesium’s exploration beyond Earth with the development of a 3D moon terrain model using open data from NASA. This project creates a digital twin of the lunar surface that could support future lunar infrastructure projects. “The lunar digital twin opens possibilities for off-Earth infrastructure that were once unimaginable,” Cozzi shared, adding that future lunar construction might involve 3D printing infrastructure using materials from the lunar surface itself. This concept highlights Cesium’s commitment to advancing technology not just on Earth but for future space exploration as well.

The Future of Cesium with Bentley: An Open and Collaborative Path Forward

As the keynote drew to a close, Cozzi emphasized Bentley’s vision of an open, community-driven ecosystem where collaboration and interoperability are paramount. “We need everyone’s help to drive the direction,” Cozzi concluded. “The way we’ll move iTwin and Cesium forward together is by engaging with the community, focusing on ecosystem success, and committing deeply to openness.”

Under Bentley, Cesium is poised to expand its influence across infrastructure, architecture, engineering, and construction, creating a collaborative future for digital twin technology that promises to shape the future of infrastructure engineering for years to come.

Tags: 3D visualization, Bentley Systems, Cesium, Digital Twins, infrastructure engineering, open-source

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