Keyhole (recently purchased by Google) is a subscription Internet service... an application service provider offering a 3D digital model of the entire Earth over the Net.
Download Keyhole's software, and you can "fly" to any location on the planet's surface, and zoom in to a pretty fine level of detail, thanks to Keyhole's astounding database of aerial photography and satellite imagery.
Most major metropolitan areas in the US, and some major world cities, are available as high-resolution images, as are (unsurprisingly) most of Iraq and Afghanistan. (Any country that the US has recently bombed is generally well-represented by high-res imagery.)
You'll need a 3D video card, but most modern PCs have those. A broadband connection is a pretty good idea, too.
There's a 7-day free trial, and an annual subscription to their consumer-grade software after that is $30 (reduced from $70 after Google's purchase.)
The Keyhole software reminds me of nothing so much as the fictional "Earth" application from Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash. I don't know how frequently life actually imitates art, but technology imitates science fiction all the time.
P.S. Here's a BBS with interesting locations Keyhole users have found, and cool map overlays they have developed.
18 November 2004
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1 comment:
Thanks for the post, I will have to try it out.
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