Microsoft Launches 3D City Maps

"In Virtual Earth 3D, which is part of Microsoft's Live Search, users can 'fly' over cities and in between buildings just like they do in virtual-reality environments...the buildings, roadways and geographical landmarks depicted are replicas of real urban landscapes...

Microsoft was able to create the lifelike cities with technology and expertise it acquired with the purchase of Vexcel, a provider of photogrammetry, imagery and remote-sensing technology.

'We built photorealistic cities with engineering-precise accuracy,' Lawler said. "We fly the Vexcel aerial camera over the cities and collect all this imagery and create an engineering production pipeline that is highly automated" instead of creating each building by hand, he said.

Three-dimensional models are built for 15 U.S. cities, with more to come, he said. The cities are San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; Seattle; Boston; Philadelphia; Los Angeles; Las Vegas; Detroit; Phoenix; Houston; Baltimore; Atlanta; Denver; Dallas; and Fort Worth, Texas."