There have been a couple software companies in recent months who have released revolutionary mapping products that combine data from multiple sources into a fairly comprehensive tool for users who which to spy down on the planet from above. They use some pretty sophisticated 3D zoom & rotation techniques, combining satellite overhead imagery data along with 3D topographical and GIS data. One company is even integrating web cams around the world into their setup which will allow viewers to see what is happening in certain locations with "live" streaming feeds.
Vincent Tao, an engineer at Toronto's York University, has invented a mapping and surveillance tool called Same (See Anywhere, Map Anywhere), which produces images so sharp that geographic co-ordinates typed into a Web site can reveal the make of a car parked on the street.
The tool works by taking satellite images of the Earth and combining them with real-time remote sensors that monitor traffic and weather.
And this one was in the news last month, recently acquired by Google:
Fly from space to your home town. Visit exotic
locales such as Maui, Tokyo, Rome and Paris.
Satellite imagery makes it real. Explore restaurants,
hotels, parks and schools. Think magic carpet ride!
The SAME product is still not released to the public but may be one day. Keyhole is a publicly accessible tool. You can download the application and mess around with it for free for a certain trial period, but then they expect payment for continued use.
I regard this as a foolish model; it's clear Google has not yet introduced a reasonable means of capitalization on this product. The solution is simple: commercialize the real estate presented within the mapping engine with paying Google clients. That way people would be able to use the software freely and clients would foot the bill. Someone like McDonalds would be willing to pay dearly for the opportunity to flash markers that must be dismissed by the user indicating the location of all their establishments on maps being viewed by a user. At this point the software is simply being treated as a novelty with no real commercial or utility value. How long do you think people are going to be amused enough with this software to pay a monthly fee for continued use? Ridiculous!
I found google earth not too long ago, some parts are really detailed, but others are just a blur when you zoom in. The mountains are 3D, but buildings are flat when you tilt.
11-30-2004 07:06 PM
