A very important development in the world of urban modelling is the fact that car GPS systems finally seem to be moving towards 3D... European Sat Nav users will soon be able to navigate through cities with 3D models of buildings and landmarks displayed life-like onscreen.
Digital map provider Tele Atlas (http://www.teleatlas.com/) is set to release detailed 3D maps of nearly 50 cities for use in navigation devices and location-based applications. The first detailed 3D city maps will include major capital cities such as London, Berlin and Rome. Additional European, US and Asian city maps will follow over the next year. It should be noted here that Tele Atlas provides mapping information for many major Sat Nav and location-based product and service developers, including market leader (and very very popular in the UK!) TomTom. You can see a brief demo of the prototype of this all at the YouTube link below.
As well as displaying prominent landmarks in 3D, Tele Atlas maps will feature textured cityscapes rather than flat representations. Additionally, major landmarks, such as the Tower of London and Berlin's Brandenburg Gate will be modelled in detail on the 3D maps... The 3D maps will initially cover around 40 square kilometres per city. Even more importantly Tele Atlas representatives mention that as the move towards pedestrian navigation and location services gathers pace, 3D imaging of street level points of interest such as train stations, bus stops and so on will become more important... Tele Atlas also claims its research shows that 81 per cent of consumers prefer 3D maps over 2D versions, with stronger interest in 3D city maps.
I will await the developments of this with great interest, car navigation is certainly a rapidly expanding area today and seeing it starting to embrace the 3D urban modelling concept is certainly not only very encouraging, but also prone to open up immense possibilities for all aspects of work attached to it...
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