Kiosk / TV Display Mode

[boc-tothefuture]

I am using the AIS-Catcher web interface on a TV for a persistent display, which works wonderfully. However, for this "at a glance" or "kiosk" style of use, the current UI has several elements that are not necessary and can clutter the screen. I would like to propose a dedicated display mode that simplifies the interface and optimizes it for passive viewing.

I envision a "Kiosk Mode" that would present a clean, focused map view with essential data points. This mode would be ideal for dashboards, club displays, or home TVs.

Here are the key components of this proposed feature:

UI Simplification

The primary goal is to remove all interactive elements that are not needed for a passive display.

Hide Navigation: Completely hide the top navigation bar.

Hide Map Controls: Hide the zoom in/out buttons.

Hide Menus: Hide the three-dot options menu and the community/sharing options.

Focused Data Display

Streamline the on-screen statistics to show the most relevant information for a passive display.

Retain Ship Count: Keep the total number of ships found, but consider increasing the font size for better readability from a distance.

Remove Ship Search and Measurement Tools: Remove the interactive ship search and measuremnt tooling

Add Key Metrics: Messages per second and Max distance (in nautical miles) within the last hour

Intelligent Vessel Information Rotation in Congested Areas

In areas with many vessels, the map currently shows a single vessel's name, seemingly at random.

Rotate Vessel Display: Instead of showing one static name, automatically cycle through all the vessels in the congested area. A 5-second display interval for each vessel would be a good starting point.

Prioritize Moving Vessels: The rotation should favor ships that are actively moving. The display time should be allocated more frequently to moving ships than to stationary ones (e.g., a 3:1 ratio).

Enhanced Vessel Label Format

The format for displaying the focused vessel's information could be improved for a kiosk style display

Display Content: For each vessel highlighted in the rotation, display its Name and Speed.

The "hover" tooltip format (the box that appears when you mouse over a vessel) is already pretty close to this, perhaps that could be reused minus the country flag to sve some space?

I am not sure if this functionality needs changes to the core or could just be implemented as a plugin.

[jvde-github]

I like that idea! Also for myself, Will add that.

[jvde-github]

Hello, something has been added that can be activated by the context menu:

The alternative is that you add ?kiosk=true to the URL address.

The option will start an animation where the focus is moved to a random vessel on screen (favouring ones with more recent AIS updates for now). It does not yet enter full screen mode automatically. Furthermore, I need to add more functions to style the tooltip which can then be useful to configure what we see.

Another observation is that I tried it in combination with fireworks mode, but that does not look nice. Maybe also something to look at in the future.

Tell me what you think :-)

[jvde-github]

Note that ship count and message rate (note sure if it is easily done on this page) are not yet shown either.... Concept is there and promising but needs some tweaking.

[boc-tothefuture]

Thanks! I have it up and running on the TV now in Kiosk mode and it looks great! I will let it run for a bit and see how it goes. Thanks again!

[boc-tothefuture]

One thing I am noticing is that the ships that are provided via the community feed are not in the rotation (they also don't have regular labels). I am not sure if that is intentional?

[jvde-github]

Yes, it is for your local reception indeed. The community feed is not included but something that can be added if there is demand for it. I am not even sure how popular this community feed is

We might want to visualize them also a bit differently instead of the grey icons. Requires a bit of work though. Another route is adding the "kiosk mode" to aiscatcher.org?

[boc-tothefuture]

I think it might also be interesting (if it can be optional) to show the tracks when a vessel is in "auto-focus" or whatever we call the rotating kiosk mode selection.

[jvde-github]

The kiosk mode automatically hovers over certain ships. You can auto show a track when hovering (or style the track) via the settings. This will then carry over to the kiosk mode:

[jvde-github]

Sorry, made a mistake. It is the option below "Show Track on Hover" :-)

[jvde-github]

You can see it in action on my station:

https://aiscatcher.org/kijkduin/?lat=52.0081&lon=4.0522&zoom=13.17&tab=map&show_track_on_hover=true&kiosk=true

[Phil353556]

Hello, @jvde-github
What am I doing wrong?

• using the toggle in the context menu is working very well
• add ?kiosk=true to the URL address is not working, only displays "Status: Connecting..." , see screenshot attached

version build yesterday evening:
Versionv 0.62-125-g43b0b996
Build date Jul 27 2025
Engine AIS engine v0.62
Thanks for your help
Phil

[jvde-github]

Thanks for flagging, fixed!

[Phil353556]

hello,
ha ha replacing ? by & , typo when you shared the option on the URL, don't worry
is working using the URL starting with https://aiscatcher.org/sm35/?lat=48.5134&lon=-2.2683&zoom=9.59&tab=map?kiosk=true
however it isn't working using the local URL as for example : http://192.168.1.39:8383/?lat=48.8152&lon=-2.0738&zoom=9.54&tab=map&kiosk=true

[jvde-github]

No sorry, just to be clear: I fixed something in the code to make it work and on server I run latest.

Indeed needs to be a & before kiosk! https://aiscatcher.org/sm35/?lat=48.5134&lon=-2.2683&zoom=9.59&tab=map&kiosk=true

[Phil353556]

Ok, rebuilding in progress :-)
Done
Works perfectly using the local address
Thank you @jvde-github

[boc-tothefuture]

Firstly, I want to thank you for being so response to requests. AIS Catcher is a pleasure to use and bringing me a lot of joy.

I have been using it in kiosk mode all day and enjoying it. I do have a request (and maybe this could be a kiosk option if the current setup is working for others). I like the circles showing up around the ships, but I find that the sometimes the information is hard to read that show up in the hover label.

Would it be possible to have a floating updated "detail" panel (like the current panel), but gets automatically updated with whatever ship is in circle at the time?

Below is an example, right now it is showing the ship I clicked on, but I would like the window to stay in the same place, and just have the information move ship to ship as the circle does.

[jvde-github]

Ok, already changed the kiosk cards to a traditional shipcard with traditional placement. I think it works actually quite well as it is also visually clear where the vessel is,.

[boc-tothefuture]

Thanks. I think this is an improvement over the previous version and I find it to be more readable. I appreciate the rapid update!

Would it still be possible to implement a sidebar options and/or stickied shipcard in the future?

[jvde-github]

Build that last night and just checked that in as well.

Under settings you have a few options to configure the "kiosk mode"

You have additionally an option in the shipcard context menu to pin or unpin a card to a position:

Finally, to Phil's point, if you want to hide the station location in kiosk mode, or do some other tweaks that you only want for kiosk mode, just open a second webviewer.

E.g. -N 8100 standard options for your webviewer -N 8101

Then you have a second webviewer at port 8101 without a station location. Everything you configure or customize will also be saved per port individually.

If you switch on kiosk mode and reload the page it will not enter in kiosk mode automatically.

[Phil353556]

hello,
tested
before: -N 8100 CDN /etc/AIS-catcher/webassets
now: -N 8100 -N 8101 CDN /etc/AIS-catcher/webassets
works (ie no more logo of the station) using local adress but not using the public URL: https://aiscatcher.org/sm35/?lat=48.6850&lon=-1.9747&zoom=11.99&tab=map&kiosk=true
Is it something that can be enhanced?
Thanks
Phil

[jvde-github]

Sure, can add a setting in menu to hide station location.

[boc-tothefuture]

I am locally testing a weighted round-robin ship selection algorithm. I am still messing with the weights a bit, but in general the prioritization is:

1. Ships that have transitioned this includes new ships not seen before and ships that transitioned from stopped to moving or moving to stopped.
2. Ships that have changed position (over 5 meters) since the last update
3. Ships that are stationary

[jvde-github]

Great, sounds good, if you have some code, happy to merge.

[Phil353556]

One point I raise is about the status of the connection.
When the kiosk mode is activated, how to know if the connection is really live or not?
No logo, no date & time with seconds displayed, the goal is to have the state of the connexion between the browser and the server.

Thanks
Phil

[jvde-github]

Added some free advertisement with the AIS-catcher logo in the top left when running in kiosk mode. Click will exit kiosk mode and will turn red if there is no server connection.