Continuous navigation
Rotate and zoom through a spatial family network, then select any person to fly smoothly to a newly centred view.
Odyssey · 3D family history
Genealogy you can move through.
Odyssey transforms a family tree from a diagram into an explorable three-dimensional world. It reveals generations, branches and relationships while keeping the person at the centre of the experience.
Purpose
Complex trees, made understandable.
Traditional charts become difficult to read as families expand. Odyssey distributes people in three-dimensional space, preserves context while you travel, and lets any visible person become the new centre of the constellation.
3D navigationDynamic rootingRelationship highlightingLarge-tree renderingPortraits and facts
Core capabilities
What the viewer does
Relationship language
Paternal, maternal, partnership and child relationships use consistent visual highlighting so the immediate family reads at a glance.
Rich profiles
Portraits, names, dates and selected facts remain connected to the genealogy record, with direct access to the full individual page.
Time and generations
The dual-use slider filters the visible constellation by year, with 25-year steps and year-by-year travel when an arrow is held.
Responsive interaction
Controls and camera behaviour adapt to desktop and mobile without changing Odyssey’s visual language.
Scalable discovery
The rendering model supports intimate family groups and very large, multi-branch genealogies.
Relationship language
Read the family at a glance
Paternal
Maternal
Partnership
Child
Controls
Find your way around Odyssey
Previous person · Next person
Return to the starting person
Enter fullscreen
Pause music
Timeline
Travel through family time
Relationship journeys
Follow the road between two people.
Relationship View brings every valid route into one three-dimensional network. Alternative paths loop smoothly around the main spine, relationship changes flow through gentle transitions, and each route can be travelled from end to end.
Switch between routes to compare different lines of descent, select a person anywhere along the way, or move straight into their Family view and continue exploring.
Under the stars
The technology behind Odyssey
Odyssey is custom built with PHP, JavaScript, CSS and WebGL-based three-dimensional rendering. PHP reads the tree and privacy-aware person data from WYDWiki and prepares a structured graph. JavaScript turns that graph into nodes, portraits, labels and relationship lines, while the browser’s graphics processor handles the animated 3D scene.
The layout uses deterministic spatial distribution so a family constellation remains balanced and navigable. Camera interpolation creates the flight between roots. Raycasting converts pointer or touch positions into selections in 3D space. Responsive controls, reduced visual load and staged animation help the same experience run across modern desktops and phones.
Odyssey does not create a second genealogy database. It visualises the existing WYDWiki project, so profiles, media, facts, privacy rules and edits remain part of a single source of truth.