A very nice night yesterday: dinner with my friends (and colleagues) Jane Turner and Oksana Zelenko - I managed to whip up a very nice eggplant curry, Jane made her trademark chicken curry, and we watched both volumes of Kill Bill. The revelation of the night was Jane's pointing out the new Google Earth freeware - enabling the user to view high-definition (and I mean high - you can make out individual cars) satellite images of the whole world interactively. I found my home as well as a number of previous homes back in Germany, the Creative Industries Precinct where I work, and various other landmarks, and I'm still exploring more...
What's interesting is that the system enables users to add annotations and discussions to the maps (which can be displayed as you view them) - harnessing users once again as co-produsers of the Google Earth system of course. Further, Google Earth is also fascinating in the current climate of security scares: such unprecedented access to detailed location information must surely raise question marks in the intelligence community? (Incidentally, it does look as if the roof of the White House and a few adjoining buildings have been slightly airbrushed. Hm.)
I can only imagine the possibilities here. Integration with GPS (which already exists in the paid versions) and especially with smart mobile phones could mean on-the-spot information about, and annotation of locations. Surely sooner or later we'll also see the addition of more recent satellite data (with age measured in weeks rather than years) - for example, right now the CI Precinct here in Brisbane still appears as under construction in Google Earth, when it's been completed for a year and a half already. Or how about coupling these images with a games engine to produce Grand Theft Auto: World? I know, not quite yet, but give it a few more years...
