Customizing the Planet with Virtual Earth

By Nick Mokey Published October 19, 2007

Following in footsteps laid down by Google with Google Earth and Google SketchUp, Microsoft announced on Thursday that users of its Virtual Earth application now have the ability to add custom 3D objects to the landscape. The new Microsoft Earth -3DVIA is the result of a collaboration between Microsoft and Dassault Systems, a company that’s specializes in 3D designs and life-cycle management.

The application allows users to build their own structures in 3D, such as a house, familiar building or other structure, then plant it on the Earth. Different colors and textures allow them to tweak and customize to make their creations to be more life-like. When completed, models can be uploaded to Virtual Earth to share with others, so users will be able to explore the work that others have done in the world.

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Microsoft Earth -3DVIA is available for free as a technology preview from Microsoft. The company will be collecting feedback on the product before issuing a final release.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As Digital Trends’ Editor in Chief, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team covering every gadget under the sun, along with…

Smart Home

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Smart Home

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Smart Home

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An agent watching a security video stream on a computer.

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How it works

Traditional security monitoring plans can send alerts to a monitoring center, which can then take action to help protect your home. That could mean contacting the fire department if a fire alarm goes off, or calling the police if there appears to be a break-in. But the workers at these monitoring systems only have access to basic alert information and may have to deal with many alerts from a ton of homes in their region, so it’s not exactly a one-on-one service, and problems like false alarms can still be an issue.