Virtual Earth 3D

In his "Map Forums" blog for Virtual Earth and Mappoint developers and users, Eric Frost points out the following:

"I was a bit astonished at this... I was able to walk a few steps into the Wynn Casino entrance in Las Vegas using Virtual Earth and you can actually make out some details inside. Obviously it's a bit klunky but when you think about how fast Virtual Earth has come in such a short period of time, you can only imagine the possibilities for the future!"

To be sure, the interior modeling seen from the entrance of the casino does not match what the Virtual Earth 3D Integration team is doing on the outside of the buildings in Las Vegas and other locations but it is kind of exciting nonetheless to see this, especially when one considers the modeling tools and expertise in Microsoft's arsenal from its Vexcel and Caligari acquisitions.

It brings to mind the vision Bill Gates articulated from  London on his 50th birthday:

"You’ll be walking around in downtown London and be able to see the shops, the stores, see what the traffic is like. Walk in a shop and navigate the merchandise — not in the flat, 2D interface that we have on the web today, but in a virtual reality walkthrough.”

And perhaps we'll be able to put $20 down at the roulette table!

Here's a new Virtual Earth video that highlights what we have been calling the "version 2" enhanced 3D cities. Among other enhancements, these newest cities are denser (more buildings), have better, more detailed photo-realistic texturing, and feature trees.

The video also features some pretty cool Virtual Earth bird's eye imagery (oblique, 45 degree aerial views).

Take a look:

   
Video: Microsoft Virtual Earth - Spring 2008 Release

As follow-up to last week's entry on the unveiling of Microsoft Boulder's 100% wind-powered data labs for powering the Virtual Earth 3D environment, here is a nice story run on Denver Channel 9 with some footage of the event, including some statements from Microsoft execs Debra Chrapaty and Erik Jorgensen.

It also stars Microsoft Boulder's Jim Curlander who, unfortunately, is incorrectly identified as John Curlander--general manager for the site--but does an outstanding job speaking to the event and the Virtual Earth 3D environment

With Earth Day just a week away, Microsoft unveiled its new wind-powered container-based data lab yesterday at its site in Boulder, Colorado. The containers house data processing servers used in the creation of the 3D city models featured in Virtual Earth online mapping platform.

Given the computationally intense nature of creating the 3D models, the storage requirements for the operation are staggering. The new lab servers each have 8 “cores”—CPUs essentially—totaling more than 5000 cores and supporting more than 10 petabytes of data. When factored in with lab servers located in the facility’s building--now also wind-powered--the total storage capacity supporting the Virtual Earth operation in Boulder is 15 petabytes. To put this into perspective, a typical consumer camera is around 5 megabytes. It would take three billion of these images to fill the 15 petabytes of storage: the equivalent of 10 photos for every person in the US.

As part of Microsoft’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the Boulder location is purchasing Wind generated power by Renewable Choice to power 100% of their operations. Microsoft currently uses many alternative forms of energy in their global operations including hydroelectricity and solar power, and and are pleased to add wind to our power mix.

Attending the unveiling along with the Boulder staff of roughly 88, were Debra Chrapaty, corporate vice-president of Microsoft Global Foundation Services;, Erik Jorgensen, general manager of Microsoft’s Live Search initiative; and Microsoft Virtual Earth executive leaders Stephen Lawler and John Curlander. Local media were also in attendance, covering this momentous occasion.

Below is a photo of the data labs. For photos and coverage of the event, see this story in today's Boulder Daily Camera.

"Gadget Guy" Steve Van Dinter from WISC TV 3 is keen on Virtual Earth, especially the 3D city models. A clever lad, Steve immediately recognizes the benefit of mapping driving directions in 3D.

My favorite quote: "As we move forward into the future, this is technology that no doubt will see being incorporated into many things."

I like him.

Check out this clip of Steve showing off the recently enhanced Las Vegas 3D city model in Live Search Maps.