Microsoft Bing Augmented Reality Maps

[SYNACK]

Microsoft has been busy in their underground coding labs again and have seriously upgraded Bing maps. In addition to using adding in much more image information along with integrating local blogs and data as well. This includes 3D models of major cities and pulls in geotagged images from flickr and photosynth along with ground level images allowing you to walk inside buildings and look backward in time throughout the images. They even show a demo of live video being streamed from a location into the virtual environment in real time including location and the angle of the cammera.

 

The new system uses snapdragon technology for the images themselves to they stream in progressivly allowing for a smooth experience.

 

Impressivly they have also integrated the Worldwide Telescope data into it so that you can simply look up at the sky and zoom in on stars or the moon seamlessly in the locations that they would have been at when the images were taken or at a time you choose. Overall it looks extremely impressive it does not yet have lots of detail (in NZ at least) so it may still be a work in progress but totally worth a look.

 

Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos augmented-reality maps | Video on TED.com

 

As it is all in silverlight it is browser based and avalible here Your web browser and the Maps site are incompatible

 

There is an ap version which has an online installer here http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/D/E/ADE837F3-8E2D-4ECA-9E4F-F0FCC750AB87/Setup.exe which is need for some of the cooler features.

Edited February 18, 2010 by SYNACK

[flyinghaggis]

Just say this today. Some impressive looking stuff!