Google The Planet

"[Google's Keyhole] animates almost unthinkably huge multiterabyte databases of satellite imagery, photos made by low flying aircraft and other sources such as the U.S. Geological Survey...

Depending upon how well-known a place is, the images scale down to show objects maybe 6 feet wide. I could, for example see a few cabana umbrellas when I zoomed in on Chicago's Oak Street Beach.

The magic began when I activated a tilt slider. The scene began to rotate so I was hovering alongside the street in 3-D clarity..."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan