When the sun is shining in the Netherlands, it is a common sight to see terraces packed with people wanting to soak up every possible ray while enjoying a cup of coffee or their lunch. But how do you make sure the spot you choose will be in the sun? A Dutch man has developed a website that allows you to see which terraces near you are currently in the shade or a sunny retreat.
AI specialist Frank Nanninga was in search of a sunny spot to enjoy his cup of coffee, but was struck by the challenge of trying to find one among the high-rise buildings of Rotterdam. Using “vibe coding” - where software is produced using artificial intelligence by describing a problem and having AI start building a solution - the website Koffieindezon (Coffee in the sun) was born.
Koffieindezon allows users to see cafes and restaurants near them and whether they are in the sun or in the shade at that very moment. The site uses public 3D models of buildings and combines them with the current position of the sun to calculate where shadows will fall. "Zoom in on the map to discover which coffee shops are in the sun or shade,” Nanninga told RTL Nieuws. “If you zoom in enough, the real-time shadow simulation becomes visible and indicates whether you can sit in the sun on that terrace at that moment."
Not only can the website be used to see where to get the most sun in the present, but it can also predict future patterns. "Visitors can see the current situation immediately. But you can also fast forward time to see how the sun moves later in the day, or even choose a specific date in the future, such as your birthday, to see whether your favourite terrace has sun then, and exactly in which corner you should sit."
Koffieindezon saw 50.000 visits within the first week since its launch. The site created by Nanninga isn’t the only popular service used to search for sunshine online. Zonopjebakkes, which first focused on sunny terraces in Amsterdam, went live back in 2023 and has grown to see thousands of visitors a day from cities across the Netherlands.
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