Look! Up in the sky! It’s Virtual Earth!
Microsoft’s Stephen Lawler gives a whirlwind tour of Virtual Earth, moving up, down and through its hyperreal cityscapes with dazzlingly fluidity, a remarkable feat that requires staggering amounts of data to bring into focus. Google might still be ahead of the game, but even in beta, Virtual Earth shows incredible promise. Microsoft’s visions for the product — as a provider of real-time weather and traffic data, or a realistic backdrop for game developers and IM conversations, or virtual ad space — all seem well within the limits of possibility.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6836530927267555352About Stephen Lawler:
Microsoft’s Stephen Lawler offers a tour of Virtual Earth that not only reveals the power and potential of the software itself, but also gives a global glimpse of the new virtual frontier of digital globes, the 3D Web and the metaverse.
Lawler also explores the enormous effort it takes to create the fluid blending and shifting between the multiple views and resolutions of Virtual Earth. From the satellites and airplanes that gather photo data for a top-down view to the ground vehicles and headgear-wearing pedestrians who canvas the ground for an eye-level perspective — all of it represents a monumental effort of logistics and mechanics.
Tags: Business, Earth, Fluidity, Game Developers, Global Glimpse, Google, Ground Vehicles, Lawler, Level Perspective, Microsoft, Monumental Effort, Photo Data, Remarkable Feat, Staggering Amounts, Stephen Lawler, Technology, Technology, Time Weather, traffic, Traffic Data, Virtual, Virtual Earth, Virtual Frontier, Whirlwind TourIf you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
