Comments on: Comments on 17536

Post number 17536

chrismear — Fri, 31 May 2002 17:59:00 -0800

Earth Viewer compiles satellite imagery on the fly to produce a photo-realistic, spinnable, zoomable model of the entire Earth, right on your computer. And I mean zoomable -- one slider takes you smoothly from seeing the entire globe down to seeing individual people queuing to get into the Louvre...

By: chrismear

chrismear — Fri, 31 May 2002 18:05:17 -0800

You can download a 14-day trial version from the website. The full subscription is several hundred dollars a year, although they do say they will be releasing a 'home' version soon. You'll need a reasonably fast connection, and a little patience while some of the images are loaded in, but once they're in your computer's memory, the zooming and panning is quite seamless. And quite breathtaking. It's interesting to see what areas are covered at the highest resolution. Most major US cities seem to be there, great swathes of Afghanistan, and Tokyo, so try some of those to experience the full zoomy-goodness.

By: geoff.

geoff. — Fri, 31 May 2002 18:28:17 -0800

I did their registration and got the e-mail but can't get the program to let me login. Oh well. Maybe it was because I entered my phone number as 555-5555.

By: chrismear

chrismear — Fri, 31 May 2002 18:43:06 -0800

I typed in my usual username (chrismear) by mistake, instead of my email address, the first time I tried to log on. But it hasn't given me any other problems, even though I entered a random UK mobile number that they probably won't recognise. Do keep trying.

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Fri, 31 May 2002 18:54:07 -0800

Cute, but seems to only exist for Windows...

By: samsara

samsara — Fri, 31 May 2002 19:29:50 -0800

Pretty neat. Another similar product is TerraExplorer from Skyline Soft. The download is a little less tricky, good 3D accel is a must. Yet, Earth Viewer's point of starting with the entire globe is really cool. I'm just waiting for flight sims to appear that use the same technology :)

By: smackfu

smackfu — Fri, 31 May 2002 20:17:12 -0800

Hey, they had this in Snow Crash.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Fri, 31 May 2002 21:59:11 -0800

In case anyone didn't know, the name of the site, Keyhole, is the code name used by the US government for its KH series of spy satellites, beginning in the 1960s and apparently continuing.

By: planetkyoto

planetkyoto — Sat, 01 Jun 2002 02:24:53 -0800

iBoo! There is no Mac version. From the FAQ: Q: Where can I get a Mac version? A: Mac OS is not currently supported by Keyhole. We may support it in the future. Please check our web site periodically for the latest news.

By: Samizdata

Samizdata — Sun, 02 Jun 2002 01:42:04 -0800

When I can find better satellite imagery of my home town for free from MapQuest, I don't really see the point to this app. Yes, it looks really cool, but what's the use then? With Keyhole I get a big blur, with MapQuest I can pick out my house... $595 a year? Nope...

By: crunchland

crunchland — Sun, 02 Jun 2002 03:43:26 -0800

jeez. give it time. It's only version 1.0. Try zooming in on San Francisco, which seems to have more data than other places I've looked at. (Though $595 is a lot of money, though I can see schools and libraries paying that kind of loot.)

By: Samizdata

Samizdata — Sun, 02 Jun 2002 16:50:32 -0800

Seems to me someone wants people to pay for beta testing. And, great, I can zoom in on San Franscisco. Try looking up Ground Zero. The picture is obviously way out of date...