Archaeology and Google Earth: Building Past Virtual Worlds

An archaelogist has created GEPublish, a “real hack” which integrates 3D models with Google Earth and creates a virtual environment with the added feature that it shows processes over time.

As he explains the work:

One of our main goals is to have something like a 4D GIS system (which means real 3D models with complex geometry + textures + the possibility to use time attributes) to show architectural or urban development and future plans: processes in time and space… So when GE integrated COLLADA support we were very excited that we can now publish complex reconstructions. The 3D polygons that were possible in KML [before COLLADA] were not sufficient for our work.

As Google Earth continues to build out its functionality as a true metaverse, there are an increasing range of builds, tools, designs, and applications being developed. The Google approach of APIs leaves me wondering whether SL isn’t going to have to move towards a similar model, and not just through open sourcing the viewer and letting people host their own mini sections of the grid. As the Google Earth repository expands, the terrabytes of information on the SL servers will start to seem a small drop in the bucket compared to a mirrored 3D “real world”. All Google really need is the ability for multiple users to enter.