Here are some more interesting applications of the Google Earth Plugin API. If you are using a supported browser/OS, then check out some of these new implementations:
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Singapore F1 3D
– This is an excellent example for using the Earth plugin for a 3D application. Earth@sg had developed 3D models for the area where the Singapore F1 Race will be held later this year. Now, they are able to use the API to show the 3D models and provide a simple click interface to tour key parts of the race scenery. The only caveat is that the models are high fidelity and may slow things down while viewing the collection. But, I really like the interface. Thanks to Shinwe who developed the models and whom I met at Where 2.0 this year.
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Tagzania Googleplex
– Tagzania is still one of the best sites I’ve seen for tagging the planet and cleverly using Google Maps and GE. They have quickly adopted the use of the GE Plugin API and enabled you to view tagged locations with the 3D plugin. The example here of the Googleplex is pretty cool since the plex is modeled in 3D. See here for the Googleplex in the normal 2D interface – the link to the 3D version appears below the map. Notice there is only a slight difference to the URL between the 2D and 3D versions. They’ve implemented this for all the individual tagged locations so far.
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PhotoFlyr
– This is an application which lets you see the latest posted geo-tagged Flickr photos. Virgil Zetterlind (of EarthNC) and I developed this application last year after Twittervision was released. At the time, there was no official plugin for Google Earth, so we used a tool from GoogleEarthAirlines which let you embed the Google Earth client itself as a plugin in a browser. It was a simple matter for Virgil to make the tool he had developed the last time run within the new API.
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EveryTrail – Biking Example – EveryTrail has also broadly implemented the Earth Plugin API. When you view a trail , you can select from the Maps option in the upper right “Google Earth (3D)” and it will load the plugin. A mountain bike trail is a particularly good example to use with the plugin since the Earth view lets you see the 3D terrain of the trail.
I haven’t checked, but hopefully some of these sites are checking to see if your browser/OS supports the plugin, and doesn’t bother to offer you the option if you can’t use the plugin. I just had the thought that maybe I should use a different colored GE icon for links that go to the API (at least until all the main browsers/OSes are supported)…