Why is this exciting I hear you ask... well this means that everyone can now enjoy the wonders of Google Earth, including the 3D buildings layer, without having to install Google Earth. All you need to do is go to Google Maps, find a map location your interested in and then click the 'Earth' button on the top right of the screen. For example if you zoom in on Perth, then click the earth button you will see our latest geomodels, the two tallest buildings in Perth. More to follow on these soon.
The integration of Google Earth into maps is exciting as it will make it the 3D buildings layer far more accessible. All you need is the Google Earth plugin.
Currently when you click on a 3D building in Google Earth a balloon pops up which contains text and a link which are populated by the maker of the model. This functionality isn't yet in the earth maps view, but Google have confirmed they are working to include this functionality very soon.
Google have helpfully created this video to explain more...
This is great news for both geo-modelers and for users of Google Maps! There are still a lot of features included in the full version of Google Earth that aren't available in the maps view that we would highly recommend downloading it. A few of the additional features of Google Earth include:
- Additional layers including information such as photos
- The animation of sun and shadows
- Historic photo imagery
- Tape measure to measure distances
