This is a road-view 2D map:
This is a hybrid 3D map of Space Needle viewing at 35 degree angle:
This is a hybrid 3D map of Space Needle viewing at 35 degree angle:
Comments (2)
Hey, that's pretty cool. Do you happen to know how the 3d models are entered in there? What determines whether a model is available or not? Is that a Microsoft thing?
Posted by tim | May 9, 2007 4:00 AM
Posted on May 9, 2007 04:00
Hi Tim, 3D textured models of the buildings are created from photographs taken in the physical world. The generation is done automatically through an algorithm developed at Microsoft. Many elements together decide whether a 3D model is available. Because of the massive complex computation required, buildings lower than certain height won't be selected for 3D model creation. Taking the photographs takes a lot of efforts too. So a few cities are selected to have 3D models first, and more cities are becoming available. You can get latest news from the Virtual Earth/Live Map blog.
Posted by Stanley Yao | May 9, 2007 7:35 PM
Posted on May 9, 2007 19:35