微软推出三维立体地图搜索(3-D City Live Search)

http://local.live.com/

微软的三维立体地图终于来了，操作方法和Google Earth差不多，很不同的是，微软将其在浏览器中实现而无须特定的应用程序界面，但其实也是需要在客户端装一大堆东西(Windows image component、.NET Framework 2.0、Virtual Earth客户端)才能实现的。

操作简便性还是可以的，简单的鼠标拖放方向，滚轮控制缩放，键盘Ctrl键＋鼠标拖放实现三维旋转和角度，感觉还算流畅。

对于默认的三维立体贴图精细度（平衡Balance），你只会看到一个个灰色效果不怎么样的小方块。

在三维地图当中你也切换道路图和卫星图，就像二维地图时一样的切换。

当把地图的精细度切换到高质的时候，那逼真的三维效果确实让人大吃一惊。

让人赞叹的是这三维建模的精致程度和贴图的细致，确实可以让人眼前一亮。

我猜想微软是利用新收购的公司的技术，把遥感测绘、三维建模等技术结合起来才有如此逼真的效果。其细致程度确实快达到工程级别的了。

感觉微软是力图打造一个模拟现实的虚拟世界，并在这个新创立的虚拟空间当中投放广告。这种广告或许更容易被大众容易接受些，例如，搜索电影院的时候看到正在热播的电影。

有了这个三维立体地图的空间，微软再结合其它无线定位，驾驶导航等等应用，将会模拟出一个真实的世界，前景广阔（Web浏览器变成三维实景浏览器了），最终让上网的人们象蜘蛛侠一样在“真正”的大楼间跳来飞去而不会迷失方向了。

引用: 　CNET科技资讯网 11月7日国际报道 本周一，微软公布了一款可下载的浏览器应用软件，在其在线地图和本地搜索服务中引入了游戏的超逼真性和可操作性。 　　在Virtual Earth 3D中，就象在《Second Life 》游戏的虚拟现实环境中一样，用户可以在城市之间、建筑物之间“飞来飞去”。 　　微软Virtual Earth 集团的总经理斯蒂芬说，除了真实地“再现”城市的地形外，Virtual Earth 3D中也包含一些现实世界中不存在的东西。 　　作为一项试验性广告计划一部分的挂在建筑物上的虚拟广告牌。例如，Fox 的一块虚拟广告牌就挂在旧金山AMC Loews 电影院的建筑物上。参与该计划的其它广告客户包括 尼桑汽车、Zip 房地产、John L. Scott 房地产等公司。 　　不同的广告客户的广告将轮流显示在虚拟广告牌上，用户可以点击广告，访问广告客户的网站。系统可以对广告进行跟踪，发现用户的兴趣、爱好。 　　虚拟广告牌将在线地图服务广告推向了一个全新的水平。目前，其它的地图服务都在地图旁边显示文字广告或在弹出式窗口中显示广告。微软表示，虚拟广告牌广告技术来自它在5 月份收购的Massive。 　　Massive 的技术使设计人员能够在3D环境中的任何表面上绘制图像。通过在3 月份收购Vexcel，微软能够创建逼真的“城市”，成本也由100 多万美元降低到了数十万美元。 　　斯蒂芬表示，微软已经建立了15座美国城市的三维模型，未来还将建立更多城市的三维模型。用户可以在二维视图、俯视图、三维视图之间进行选择。在任何一种视图上，用户都可以使用现有的地图服务，例如企业列表、白页、交通信息、行车线路。 　　为了与Google、雅虎、AOL 争夺搜索市场，微软一直努力在地图服务中获得领先优势。去年晚些时候，微软独家推出了俯视角为45度的地图。 　　Sterling Market Intelligence创始人格雷格说，与竞争对手不同的是，Virtual Earth 3D不要求用户在硬盘上下载应用软件，而是直接在浏览器中运行。 　　另外，微软最终可能在虚拟广告牌上显示视频广告。虚拟广告牌将能够显示不同类型的广告，将地图服务推动到一个新的水平。 　　微软还开放了Virtual Earth 3D的API ，使开放人员能够在他们的应用软件和Web 网站中整合搜索功能。 出处: 微软新3D地图搜索集成虚拟广告牌

引用: REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 6, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today announced U.S. availability of Virtual Earth™ 3D, a new online mapping interface that is part of the Live Search offering, providing consumers with a three-dimensional experience to search, browse and explore the real world online. When people visit Live Search (http://live.com), type a query into the search box and click the “Maps” tab, they get their search results in a map context that offers the option to explore the area using two-dimensional views (aerial and bird’s-eye) or three dimensional models with Virtual Earth 3D. This new technology compiles photographic images of cities and terrain to generate textured, photorealistic 3-D models with engineering level accuracy. “By helping people visualize information in far more useful and intuitive ways, Virtual Earth 3D takes search to an entirely new level,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “The immersive 3-D experience provides a more powerful and engaging interface that delivers better experiences not only for consumers, but also for developers and advertisers.” Three-dimensional models are available initially for 15 U.S. cities: San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix, Houston, Baltimore, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas and Fort Worth. Terrain imagery in 3-D is available globally, and Microsoft expects to offer 3-D imagery in an ever expanding set of cities. Other features provided by Live Search include access to real-time traffic information in select major U.S. cities, and access to business listings “yellow pages” and people listings “white pages” that allows consumers to easily find local information and act on it. “The release of Virtual Earth 3D is a significant step toward creating a truly new dimension in search not only in the look and feel of the experience but in the way consumers and advertisers can be involved,” said Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of the Online Services Group at Microsoft. “Local search is one of the fastest-growing categories online today, and adding features like 3-D will only help move the category further ahead and help Windows Live attract more customers and advertisers.” Advertisements will be available within the Virtual Earth 3D experience. Similar to billboards on the side of roads, virtual billboards will be available throughout Live Search in the 3-D view. The ads available within the Virtual Earth 3D experience are created using a combination of technologies from Virtual Earth, Massive Inc. technology, and the advertising platform from Microsoft® Digital Advertising Solutions. In addition, developers can use the Virtual Earth 3D application programming interface to build these search capabilities into their own applications and Web sites. This and other APIs for Live Search are offered at no cost to developers, with the option to acquire additional support and other benefits through a service-level agreement with Microsoft. Developers can find more information about the Virtual Earth API. 出处: Microsoft Adds 3-D City Models to Live Search: Microsoft Virtual Earth platform powers Live Search and provides a more immersive mapping experience for consumers, enterprises and developers.