ASCII Mapping of Live Data

There’s something oddly satisfying about seeing the world reduced to text. The new ASCII OSM Viewer  leans fully into that aesthetic, turning modern web mapping into something that looks like it belongs on a terminal from the 1980s.

Built by Lionel Lim, this browser-based experiment takes data from OpenStreetMap and renders it entirely using ASCII characters. The result is a playful but still (partly) functional map that mixes nostalgia with real-time geospatial data.

What is ASCII OSM Viewer?

At its core the ASCII OSM Viewer is an interactive web map that replaces traditional map tiles with a grid of text characters. Roads, coastlines, and labels are all reinterpreted using ASCII symbols, producing a map that looks like it’s been typed out rather than drawn.

The map is still fully pan-and-zoom capable and even includes live aircraft data pulled from Airplanes.live. These are displayed using the letters 'aAa' moving across the text-based landscape.

Two Rendering Modes

The viewer currently supports two distinct rendering approaches:

1. Canvas Mode

This draws ASCII characters onto a canvas, stretching and positioning glyphs to approximate a traditional map layout. This allows for smoother visuals and proportional placement of labels and overlays (like aircraft).

2. Text Mode

Instead of drawing onto a canvas, the map is rendered as actual selectable text using a monospaced font (IBM Plex Mono).

This means:

• You can highlight and copy the map
• Labels (cities, landmarks) are embedded directly into the grid
• What you copy is exactly what you see

It’s a subtle but important shift - from a visual simulation of ASCII to true ASCII output.