October 9th, 2007
Google 3D data enters the virtual world
This week the virtual world is opening up a new realm. Daniel Terdiman reports that Multiverse Network is partnering with Google to create a new online 3D environment for the masses, including simulations useful in a business context.
The idea is simple: Multiverse’s technology–which gives game developers tools to design custom virtual worlds–will let those designers pick and choose from most of the millions of 3D models created using Google’s 3D software tool SketchUp, and to import pieces of terrain, as defined by entering specific longitude and latitude data, from Google Earth.
If you want to build a virtual world centered on, say, downtown San Francisco, you could use the new technology to create the area itself and populate it with the digital versions of real-world buildings that have been created and uploaded to the 3D Warehouse.
Called Architectural Wonders, Multiverse’s tools make it easier to use Google’s SketchUp, 3D Warehouse and Google Earth data in virtual-world production tools. 
The Architectural Wonders project dashboard that allows developers to define the geographical terrain they want to import into their virtual world, as well as the buildings and other features whose 3D models they want to add.
SceneCaster, a startup I wrote about last month, allows users to create scences using objects from the Google’s 3D Warehouse.
Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CNET News.com, has more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
