See It
Map a small prepared observation set and inspect its dates, gaps, and uncertainty.
Atlas capability 11
Observe, Map, and Explore the Physical World
Help me notice what is around me.
Collect and organize field observations, identify possibilities, map places and patterns, and combine personal evidence with public data.
Location itself can be sensitive: a home, living person, sacred place, or threatened species may require redaction or delayed publication.
What this can include
- Capture photographs, audio, video, location, sensor readings, and field notes.
- Suggest identifications for plants, animals, stars, sounds, or objects.
- Compare repeated observations over time.
- Map routes, places, relationships, and change.
- Combine observations with public datasets.
- Contribute to citizen science and turn observations into stories or models.
Try It
Collect a few observations, use an identification aid, and preserve the original evidence beside the suggestion.
Build It
Create a field-to-analysis pipeline with sensors, metadata, privacy, data quality, mapping, and publication.
Current tool map · checked August 13, 2026
Tools that may help
These are representative options, not rankings or endorsements. Prices are dated United States dollar orientations; open the official page before choosing or paying.
Airtable
Airtable
A collaborative relational database and low-code platform for organizing records, views, forms, and automations.
- Cost snapshot
- Free plan; a stable public USD paid entry price was not confirmed.
- Good fit
- guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web, desktop, mobile, api
AnyLogic
AnyLogic PLE
A free learning edition of a multi-method simulation environment for discrete-event, agent-based, and system-dynamics models.
- Cost snapshot
- Personal Learning Edition is free; commercial pricing was not confirmed.
- Good fit
- technical; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- desktop, local
Esri
ArcGIS StoryMaps
A web authoring environment for combining maps, media, narrative, and place-based explanations.
- Cost snapshot
- Public viewing is free; authoring depends on ArcGIS access. A stable USD entry price was not confirmed.
- Good fit
- guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web
Arduino
Arduino
An open hardware and software ecosystem for sensors, electronics, robotics, and physical computing.
- Cost snapshot
- Arduino IDE software is free; boards, components, and cloud services add separate costs.
- Good fit
- technical; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- desktop, local, hardware
OpenAI
ChatGPT
A general multimodal assistant for questions, sources, writing, images, data, voice, and connected work.
- Cost snapshot
- Free tier; Go $8/month in the US, Plus $20/month, and Pro $200/month. API usage is separate.
- Good fit
- beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web, desktop, mobile, api
Flourish
Flourish
A browser tool for creating interactive data visualizations, maps, scrollytelling, and presentations.
- Cost snapshot
- Free public tier; a stable public USD paid entry price was not confirmed.
- Good fit
- guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web
Gemini
Google’s multimodal assistant for questions, research, creation, code, and Workspace-connected tasks.
- Cost snapshot
- Free tier; paid consumer plan price was not confirmed from the public first-party page during this pass.
- Good fit
- beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web, mobile, api
Google Earth
A global imagery, terrain, map, and storytelling environment for exploring places and change.
- Cost snapshot
- Free consumer access.
- Good fit
- beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web, desktop, mobile
xAI
Grok
xAI’s assistant for conversation, reasoning, current public conversation, images, voice, and API work.
- Cost snapshot
- Free access appears available; a stable first-party consumer USD entry price was not confirmed. API pricing is model-specific.
- Good fit
- beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web, mobile, api
iNaturalist
iNaturalist
A community platform for recording nature observations and receiving identification suggestions.
- Cost snapshot
- Free community platform.
- Good fit
- beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web, mobile
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Merlin Bird ID
A free mobile guide that suggests bird identifications from descriptions, photographs, and sounds.
- Cost snapshot
- Free mobile application.
- Good fit
- beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- mobile
NetLogo
NetLogo
A free agent-based modeling environment for building and exploring systems made of interacting actors.
- Cost snapshot
- Free open-source desktop software; NetLogo Web supports selected browser models.
- Good fit
- technical; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- desktop, web, local
Polycam
Polycam
A mobile and web photogrammetry/LiDAR tool for capturing spaces and objects as 3D models.
- Cost snapshot
- Free plan shown; a stable public USD paid entry price was not confirmed.
- Good fit
- guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web, mobile
QGIS
QGIS
A free open-source geographic information system for mapping, spatial data, analysis, and publication.
- Cost snapshot
- Free open-source software.
- Good fit
- technical; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- desktop, local
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi
A family of small computers for learning, sensors, media, servers, robotics, and local AI experiments.
- Cost snapshot
- Software is generally free; hardware prices depend on model, retailer, region, storage, power supply, and accessories.
- Good fit
- technical; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- local, hardware
Stellarium
Stellarium
A free open-source planetarium that renders the sky for a chosen place, date, time, and equipment view.
- Cost snapshot
- Free open-source desktop software; mobile variants may differ.
- Good fit
- beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- desktop, web, mobile, local
Unity
Unity
A real-time 2D and 3D engine for games, simulations, interactive experiences, and spatial applications.
- Cost snapshot
- Unity Personal is free for eligible users; current paid plan price was not confirmed.
- Good fit
- technical; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- desktop, local
Epic Games
Unreal Engine
A high-end real-time 3D engine for games, virtual production, visualization, simulation, and spatial work.
- Cost snapshot
- Free download; royalties, seats, and commercial terms depend on the license route and project.
- Good fit
- technical; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- desktop, local
Wolfram
Wolfram|Alpha
A computational knowledge engine for calculations, data, formulas, and structured factual queries.
- Cost snapshot
- Free basic access and paid Pro; a stable public USD entry price was not confirmed.
- Good fit
- guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
- Access
- web, mobile, api
Run this even when the list looks current
Find current tools and prices
Product names, access, plans, and limits change. Copy this prompt into an assistant with current web access.
I want to support a field observation, mapping, citizen-science, or sensor project while preserving raw evidence, dates, locations, uncertainty, and privacy for a curiosity event or learning project. Find useful tools that are available today. Assume I may not be technically experienced. Prefer official product, documentation, and pricing pages. For each tool include a plain-language description, the easiest first step, access method, required account or installation, free plan or trial, current consumer subscription price, current API or credit cost, important limits, privacy and data-use considerations, output ownership, and direct official links. Separate subscriptions from usage pricing. Show United States dollar prices, state the date checked, label anything unconfirmed instead of guessing, and remind me to verify the official pricing page before spending money.Trust boundary
Human judgment remains in charge.
Automated identification is a suggestion. Keep the photograph, recording, place, time, observer note, and uncertainty together.