Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Download Now!!! Access a Virtual Earth 3D Version of Santa’s Village at the North Pole

Courtesy of Microsoft

It's “snowing” AJAX over 3D virtual models and rasterized photographs in Santa's village this year, and Microsoft is the only one to thank for this gift. With Christmas just around the corner, the Redmond company has kicked the holiday spirit to a whole different level. The Virtual Earth Product Group, in partnership with MSNBC, has managed to produce a virtual Christmas experience, by unveiling a virtual version of Santa's village at the North Pole in Virtual Earth. According to Chris Pendleton, Virtual Earth tech evangelist, Microsoft Live Search, what Microsoft has built is nothing more than a small corner of Virtual Earth dedicated entirely to Santa Claus.

“Fly on up to The North Pole and check it out! Depending on your connection speed, you could see some latency, but on my pithy Linksys wireless connection using Comcast from Redmond I was able to get the whole application loaded in under 10 seconds (not cached!). Turn on Firebug and see how much data you get and you’ll see why 10 seconds is impressive. If you have an XBOX controller, plug it in the USB port as the flying experience is much better with that control,” Pendleton stated.

The initiative from the Virtual Earth Product Group involves the creation of Santa's village, but also what Microsoft referred to as an immersive tracking mechanism for the jolly old fellow. Users will need to install the Virtual Earth 3D plug-in in order to be able to visit Santa's village. In addition to pleasing geeks of all ages with Virtual Earth Santa's village, Microsoft also revealed that 3D artists could access a contest for creating 3D models via Caligari.

“We used a number of different technologies to create this winter wonderland. Virtual Earth AJAX Control – The Virtual Earth AJAX Control allows for developers to create immersive 2D and 3D map applications / experiences with a simple JavaScript programming model. trueSpace – trueSpace is a FREE 3D modeling kit for creating super high resolution models, like the ones you see at The North Pole, and placing them into Virtual Earth’s 3D. Map Cruncher – Map Cruncher allows you to take your own photography or maps and overlay them in raster form over the Virtual Earth AJAX Control tile set. We used Map Cruncher for the North Pole atop which our models are resting,” Pendleton added.