About the Project
Inspiration
I am a student about to join Virginia Tech as a Computer Science major. While I am incredibly excited for my time in college, there is one challenge: campus is about a four-hour drive from my home. Because of the distance, trips to and from Blacksburg are occasional, and even when I do visit, it's nearly impossible to explore not only the campus but also the surrounding areas like Christiansburg and Roanoke in just a day or two.
Growing up, I spent countless hours playing driving simulators and open-world games. I always loved the feeling of getting behind the wheel and simply exploring. That made me wonder: what if I could do the same thing, but with the real world? Instead of memorizing streets from a map or scrolling around satellite images, I wanted to actually drive through places I had never been before and build a mental understanding of where everything is.
That idea eventually became Earth Driver.
What It Does
Earth Driver is a browser-based, real-world driving simulator that lets users drive anywhere on Earth using real satellite imagery and map data.
Instead of looking at a static map, users can jump behind the wheel and virtually explore unfamiliar cities, neighborhoods, campuses, landmarks, and roads before ever visiting them in person. The goal is to make exploring the world immersive, intuitive, and fun through a driving simulator experience.
Whether you're moving to a new city, planning a vacation, visiting a college campus for the first time, or simply curious about somewhere you've never been, Earth Driver helps you experience that location from the driver's perspective.
How It Was Built
The project is built as a web application using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with CesiumJS providing the real-world 3D globe, terrain, and streaming map data. OpenStreetMap powers the roads and geographic information, while custom JavaScript handles the driving mechanics, camera controls, navigation, and user interface.
Using Codex throughout development allowed me to bring my simple idea to life. Rather than simply generating code, Codex became a collaborative engineering partner that helped me rapidly prototype ideas, iterate on features, and turn what started as a simple concept into a working application.
Looking Ahead
In the future, I'd like to add realistic traffic, pedestrians, weather, multiplayer exploration, VR support, steering wheel compatibility, and smarter navigation features. My long-term vision is to create a platform where anyone can experience and understand a place before ever setting foot there.
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