3D models of fossils and sites on the website in a new form: faster and more attractive

Photogrammetric 3D model of a part of the Jizerka stream watershed

16.12.2025 Radek Svítil

We have launched a new tool for displaying 3D photogrammetric models on the website of the Czech Geological Survey (CGS).

Three-dimensional models of field sites where CGS experts conduct research and fossils from the CGS collections now load faster (the data size has been reduced several times over) and use the entire browser window area.

The new solution also allows several models to be displayed on a single page, which we used to present the skeletal remains of a plesiosaur found by our colleague in Antarctica. You can see these bones in physical form in a display case in the entrance hall of the CGS headquarters in Prague's Klárov district.

All models can also be viewed on a mobile phone, but they are better displayed on larger screens.

Artificial intelligence support was extensively used in programming the new solution, which greatly accelerated development.

You can find more information about the use of 3D models in the work of the Czech Geological Survey on our website.

Photogrammetric models of field localities

Photogrammetric models of samples from the CGS collections

Preview of selected models

Photogrammetric 3D model of a plesiosaurid caudal vertebra

Photogrammetric 3D model of trilobite Phacops

Niche on 20th floor of Rožná uranium mine

Vitrína s fosilií Plesiosaurida ve vstupní chodbě sídla ČGS v bývalém ústavu slepců Praze na Klárově.

Display case with a plesiosaurid fossil in the entrance hall of the CGS headquarters in the former Institute for the Blind in Prague's Klárov district. | Author: Oleg Man