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Google Earth Models Getting Better

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History and Georaphy are More Fun

Google Earth is doing some amazing things as highlighted with their announcement the other day of the Ancient Rome layer (shown in the video below).

As I talked about upon its release, this to me says that there is quite a fascinating future ahead when it comes to the virtual exploration of actual historical locations. The more of these things they work on, the greater Google Earth could become as an educational tool. It's not all about history though. It's already a pretty good educational tool for geography. And it's only getting better in that regard too. Frank Taylor at Google Earth Blog writes:

Google Earth's 3D dataset continues to grow and improve in quality over time. Many of the most famous tourist sites around the world are viewable in 3D. And, if you haven't visited these sites recently, it's worth checking back. Google has been gradually improving the resolution of the 3D terrain around the world. Places like the Grand Canyon, Mount St. Helens, and the Matterhorn are much better than they were when Google Earth was first released. Famous sites like Stonehenge, Christ the Redeemer, Pyramids of Giza, and many others have recently had improved 3D models added. Many of these models are coming from modelers who submit them to the 3D Warehouse and were selected to be included in the Google Earth 3D Buildings layer.

The 3D Warehouse is an online repository of 3D models where anyone can search and download models. People who have Google accounts can freely publish their own as well.

About the author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003.

8 Comments

Google Earth's 3D dataset

Google Earth's 3D dataset continues to grow and improve in quality over time. Many of the most famous tourist sites around the world are viewable in 3D. And, if you haven't visited these sites recently, it's worth checking back. Google has been gradually improving the resolution of the 3D terrain around the world. Places like the Grand Canyon, Mount St. Helens, and the Matterhorn are much better than they were when Google Earth was first released. Famous sites like Stonehenge, Christ the Redeemer, Pyramids of Giza, and many others have recently had improved 3D models added. Many of these models are coming from modelers who submit them to the 3D Warehouse and were selected to be included in the Google Earth 3D Buildings layer.

Sweet, looks like a video

Sweet, looks like a video game

I love this idea... on the

I love this idea... on the other hand I'm afraid in the near future people will stop travelling or getting out of the house because most things can be seen on the internet... and now even in 3d. The motivation will be smaller. Although maybe the opposite is true.

The future of education revealed

Combine this with what some of the virtual reality software and online worlds such as second life and twinity are doing and you get a picture of what the educational world of the future will be - kids will really get an opportunity to 'live' in the past or fly through the grand canyon 

Awesome

Its amazing what google comes up with every day, they take everyones ideas and blends them into their products seamlessly. I would love to see video feeds when you zoom into specific locations as well.

Agreed!

 I obviously agree, and thanks for mentioning my post!

RE: Agreed!

You got it Frank. Thanks for stopping by.

 I'd like to see Google

 I'd like to see Google Earth incorporate video feeds for either a local's news or points of interest. Like if you zoom in on Atlanta you can click on a video feed from the Atlanta Aquarium...I'm sure they have already thought of this though.

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