NASA have released a Java component called World Wind that enables developers to build something that includes Google Earth-like 3D map data. This component can be added to for example a Swing application and the developer can create a mashup in any way they see fit.
The terrain is 3D, so you don't just zoom in and out on a flat image you can roll/tilt/yaw, it's mountainous; in one example they have a flight sim that lets you fly a plane over some real mountains which turns a globe into a game.
The terrain is 3D, so you don't just zoom in and out on a flat image you can roll/tilt/yaw, it's mountainous; in one example they have a flight sim that lets you fly a plane over some real mountains which turns a globe into a game.
Normally this kind of tech is very expensive, so it's great of them to donate this data and it opens up a world of opportunities for developers.
At its simplest you can think of World Wind as a desk globe, however World Wind is not a simple desk globe.
World Wind allows any user to zoom from outer space into any place on Earth. World Wind uses satellite imagery and elevation data to allow users to experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if they were really there. Virtually visit anyplace in the world. Look across the Andes, into the Grand Canyon, over the Alps or along the African Sahara.
Unlike your desk globe World Wind can display thousands of placenames all over the world, from country capitals to villages in sparsely populated regions. You can see country borders, and in some cases intracountry borders such as US states.
World Wind allows any user to zoom from outer space into any place on Earth. World Wind uses satellite imagery and elevation data to allow users to experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if they were really there. Virtually visit anyplace in the world. Look across the Andes, into the Grand Canyon, over the Alps or along the African Sahara.
Unlike your desk globe World Wind can display thousands of placenames all over the world, from country capitals to villages in sparsely populated regions. You can see country borders, and in some cases intracountry borders such as US states.
World Wind has a full copy of the Blue Marble, a spectacular true-color image of the entire Earth. Put together from data of a variety of satellites such as Terra and Aqua, the Blue Marble can be seen in all its glory at 1 km per pixel resolution. Blue Marble Next Generation is streamed from the NASA servers at 0.5 km per pixel and in 12 versions, one for each month of year.
Tala
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