Google Earth Gets 3D Model Of Vancouver

Remember how, in the months, weeks, and finally days before the 2008 Summer Olympics, companies were churning out all sorts of interesting little products that no one had time to use?  Google is starting to gear up for the 2010 Winter Olympics much sooner with a 3D model of Vancouver.

A full 1,400 buildings have been made visible in Google Earth’s 3D layer.  Textures appear to have been applied to all of them – we’re not talking about tall, gray blocks here – and the city looks quite nice.  It would be far from shocking if the Google Earth images (or at least word of their existence) make it into some official Olympics promotional material.

 Vancouver Library Square

On the LatLong Blog, Tamara Micner added, "I’m especially excited that you can now get a richer sense of Vancouver’s distinctive splendor, which marries advanced urban development with a dramatic coastal landscape."

In terms of some specific sights to watch for, she then continued, "You can see places like Moishe Safdie’s colosseum-like Library Square, the waterfront Canada Place (with its ‘Five Sails’), and Olympic venues such as the domed B.C. Place stadium."

This development may be a sign that some other cities will soon get the same treatment, or maybe not.  Either way, it seems to signal that Google is going to make the next Olympic Games a huge deal.