This from Arizona State's "Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), an on-campus, state-of-the-art research facility:"

Curtis Marean, a paleoanthropologist in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, used GIS services to contextualize paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental evidence related to the origins of modern humans in South Africa. In a first for archaeology, GIS services created a three-dimensional video representation of an early site and its remains. The representation of the paleoscape and cave at Pinnacle Point in South Africa allows researchers to compare data in virtual ways not possible without the technology, Hutchins says.

- ASU News

If Bird's Eye views and the imcomplete cityscapes of Google Earth are not enough for you, visit Facebook and check out UpNext
Says Erick Shonfield at TechCrunch:

In reality, though, UpNext is a technology demo waiting to be picked up by a larger company building out a global mapping platform. It cannot survive as a standalone company given the competition. Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft should buy these guys and blow out these maps worldwide.

- Techcrunch

Yes, the vision many have suggested of individuals and communities creating their own 3D models for inclusion in Google Earth is playing out again. McMinnville Tennessee, population 13,000, is the latest entrant. With a $10,000 state grant, two Google trainers, and some free copies of SketchUp and Google Earth Pro, 25 volunteers are at work.

- Knoxville News Sentinel

GIS officials have built a 3D model of the country and found 70 locations "for the accurate observation of the moon."

- PressTV

CTO Justin Rattner gave a keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco highlighting how the 3D Web, with virutal and more realistic 3D renderings, is the future.

"This may be the killer app of killer apps," Rattner told reporters after they keynote. "As people demand a more immersive, a more realistic experience, they're just going to push the computing demands to unprecedented levels."

And of course, Intel will be there to provide chips to support all that rendering... Rattner was not all smiley; he noted challenges to 3D including standardization and user interfaces.

- InfoWorld

Frequent Directions Magazine contributor Gary Smith ("How Big is an Acre") is featured in his local paper, The Burlington Free Press, as he implements Google Earth in Shelburne and Essex, Vermont. Smith is leading the charge to get the small towns' public buildings (no private houses, due to privacy issues) into 3D in Google Earth. How?

To implement the program, the towns were asked to provide 10 to 12 computer-literate community members who would attend a day-long training to learn to "draw" the buildings in a virtual landscape. Each volunteer is asked to create at least 10 buildings, which will be housed in Google's "digital warehouse" and be made available to the public.

The program, which Smith created, is being funded by Google, and is provided free to the communities. In exchange for their time, volunteers will receive licenses for Google Earth Pro, a $400 program.

Town employees will be trained too. The towns see value in the 3D data both for planning and for expose to the rest of the world. Any small/medium-sized town in the U.S. is elegable to participate in Smith's program, which will continue to be offered free of charge.