Stowaway: Virtual window seat on real overhead aircraft/satellites
Original: Stowaway – Take the window seat on any plane or satellite overhead
Why This Matters
Demonstrates real-time geospatial and aviation data visualization accessible directly in a consumer browser.
Stowaway is a real-time web tool that lets users pick any aircraft or satellite currently overhead and virtually sit in its window seat, rendering live sky, weather, terrain, and lighting via JavaScript and WebGL 2.
Stowaway (stowaway.live) is a browser-based visualization tool that tracks real aircraft and satellites passing over a user's current location in real time. Users can select any overhead object — a commercial flight or an orbiting satellite — and the app places a virtual camera in its window seat, showing a rendered view over actual terrain. The sky, lighting, and weather conditions reflect the user's real location and the current moment, not a simulation of generic conditions. All rendering is done in real time using JavaScript and WebGL 2, requiring those technologies to be enabled in the browser. The project emphasizes authenticity: the aircraft and satellites shown are genuinely overhead, the terrain is real, and the light matches the current time of day. No account or download is required; enabling JavaScript for the site is sufficient to run the experience.