As part of his stand-up act, comedian Steven Wright used to say that he had "a map of the United States, actual size." To see and peruse some of Microsoft’s latest plans, that scale may no longer be a joke.

Microsoft Corp. launched a new service, Virtual Earth 3D, Nov. 6 offering users a new perspective of Microsoft’s Live Search Map, a free, online local search and mapping service that provides worldwide road and aerial maps with unique, bird’s-eye-view imagery for select metropolitan areas.

The new 3-D models, initially available for 15 U.S. cities, offer users realistic, hybridized images of buildings rather than gray boxes, Microsoft said, and the software giant plans to make 3-D imagery available for 100 additional cities by summer 2007.

New Technology, New Capabilities

According to those who have worked on the project, Virtual Earth 3D represents the beginning of a 3-D Web. "The information paradigm is changing," Bill Gail, director of strategic development for Microsoft’s Virtual Earth business unit, said. Speaking as a consumer, "instead of my seeking the information, I want you to bring the information to me."

Microsoft believes its Virtual Earth 3D product is a quantum step beyond competitor Google Earth’s 3-D technology because of the advanced imaging features made possible by combining Realsite 3-D urban city models from Harris Corp. The imagery, dubbed Harris Realsite Pictometry, is supplied by Pictometry International Corp. and used by Microsoft to depict large urban areas in the United States and international locations. Harris, Pictometry and Microsoft have established a cooperative marketing alliance to serve their core markets and customers with the new offering. Other Live Search features include access to traffic information in select metro areas and business or individual location and telephone information.

Satellite operator Geoeye is a key provider of imagery to Microsoft Virtual Earth (as well as its competitor Yahoo). The launch of the company’s next-generation imagery satellite, Geoeye-1, is planned for early 2007 and the satellite will capture images with a ground resolution of 0.41 meters in black-and-white and 1.65 meters in color.

"More importantly, because of GPS in the satellite, we will be able to locate an object on the earth’s surface to within a few meters of its true location on the globe," Geoeye spokesman Mark Brender said. "The satellite is basically a mapping machine in orbit. This sort of quality, map-accurate imagery will be ideal for search engines."

Microsoft’s Rob Roy, director of sales and marketing for Virtual Earth Public Sector, agreed. "You’re getting to a point where you can make decisions in real time," he said. "If I could get real-time information with cars in front of me, with people in line at Starbucks, how much would I use that? You can get an idea of what is possible."

Roy said, "ultimately we are a building a virtual world to make it a living entity. One of the reasons I come to Virtual Earth is to do things [I] couldn’t can’t do in the real world. I can fly over the Grand Canyon, which even if I had my pilot’s license I couldn’t do. … In several years’ time I can see Virtual Earth with moving images in real time: weather out the window, traffic in the street and flights in the air. You could do some of this stuff right now, but you’re getting to the point where you can make decisions in real time."

The technology advancements in space and on the ground mean that the era of cartoon-style maps is coming to an end, Brender said. "People [increasingly] are used to looking at satellite imagery maps or hybrids," he said. "… The race has begun between search engines. … The search engine that can boast they have the most accurate and most current satellite imagery married with the most functionality will be the victor."

Space Key To Growth Plans

Microsoft considers local search one of the fastest-growing categories online today, and believes adding features in 3-D will only help move the category further ahead and help Windows Live attract more customers and advertisers.

While there remains to be seen definite indication of how the satellite operator and value-added providers will recognize clear revenues from the Internet distribution channels, the participation of Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo represent possible interaction between consumers and businesses. The trick will be determining a path for the consumer market to drive business revenues.

Ads will be available via Virtual Earth 3D, placed throughout Live Search in the 3-D view like billboards on the side of roads. The virtual placards are created through combined technologies from Virtual Earth, Massive Inc. and the advertising platform from Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions. Developers can also use the Virtual Earth 3D interface to build search capabilities into their own applications and Web sites.

Microsoft is offering the APIs for Live Search at no cost to developers, along with the option to acquire additional support and other benefits through a service-level agreement with Microsoft.

All of it, Roy said, will evolve. "In order to get interactivity today, it usually requires a download Flash, etc., to get those animations. As we move forward, we envision installing it as an application on the desktop that [users] can use in disconnected operations mode, for what they call their disadvantaged users (a local application) and cache it on a map they can download completely," he said.

The transition will be "in providing software to leverage Web services but not require a persistent Web connection," Roy said. "What we hear from [U.S. Department of Defense] customers is that they like to go to like clients and use everything from the browser. Unfortunately, warfighters and travelers are dead in the water as they move that way. So we will provide hybrid in connected and disconnected modes, and you’ll stream parts in as you need them, but you won’t disconnect completely when you leave the network."

The business side, Roy said, already has various applications to monetize (i.e., store locators) by embedding the Virtual Earth capability. Real estate, for one example, can match real estate values to a bird’s-eye view of neighborhoods.

"That’s utilizing technologies in a profiling or geocommunity aspect," said Roy. "That could be available today based on the unique application; the possibility is there if they are using GPS-enabled cell phones to foreseeably send an alert," say if someone looking for real estate was notified while driving near a house in their price range.

"The technologies are available today," Roy concluded, "though I don’t know anyone using it yet."