With the help of concept3D, the map has become an excellent source of information for the school. Powered by the concept3D “CampusBird Atlas” CMS, Duke staff can edit the map and publish new information on their own. In addition, all data is mirrored between the Google Earth Plugin API and the Google Maps API on the site; it appears seamless to the end user, but it’s a tricky piece of work on the back end.

The map includes 3D models of 325 buildings across the campuses. The map also includes satellite views and traditional two-dimensional street maps and offers overlays that display details such as dining locations and parking permit requirements, photos related to the buildings and videos linked to specific campus locations.

The maps are only accessible via the Plugin (no downloadable KML), and you can view the new map here on the Duke website. In addition, the map is fully functional on mobile devices.

For new students or visitors that are trying to find their way around campus, tools like this must be incredibly helpful for them!

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Concept3D worked with Duke University to create the 3D models, which can be viewed by selecting ‘Earth 3D’ on the map. This will switch the 2D Google Map to the Google Earth browser plugin.

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DURHAM, NC

Duke unveiled a new online map Friday that includes 3-D models of 325 buildings across the campuses. The map also includes satellite views and traditional two-dimensional street maps and offers overlays that display details such as dining locations and parking permit requirements, photos related to the buildings and videos linked to specific campus locations. The map is fully functional on mobile devices.

“The 3-D model is a great way to introduce the campus to visitors and prospective students,” said Christoph Guttentag, dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Duke. “But the map will also allow us to create virtual tours that can mix a 3-D view of campus with videos of what happens inside the buildings, from dance to lectures. It’s a great way to bring the campus to life.”

The interactive map, built on the Google Maps engine, is the result of five months of intense data gathering from multiple departments at Duke. It has been called a “revolutionary tool,” allowing users to explore Duke in many dimensions. Viewers can immerse themselves in the 3-D model through the Google Earth application, view a more traditional Google Maps two-dimensional map and add layers of information based upon their own interests.

“People have high expectations of Duke and this new map meets those expectations with sophisticated online mapping technology,” said Blyth Morrell, senior web and vendor consultant in the Office of Marketing & Strategic Communications, and project leader for the map redesign.

When users first visitmaps.duke.edu, they see the familiar Google Maps-style two-dimensional street map, centered over West Campus. On the left, however, is a color-coded menu that leads to Duke-specific information viewers can overlay onto the map.

Click on the “Dining” overlay and 22 red pushpins with an icon of a knife and fork reveal the locations of campus eateries. Click on a pushpin for Duke Chapel under “Points of Interest” and a 360-degree panoramic view of the Chapel becomes available for viewing. Scroll over to the Admissions Building, and another pushpin reveals a 30-second video for prospective students. The map also allows users to add a “Transportation” overlay for Duke bus stops and bus routes, bike racks and parking lot information.

Beth Campbell, information systems manager for Parking and Transportation, said the new map will help Duke community members and visitors navigate Duke’s transit options.

“When it comes to transportation, people may not want lists of general information on websites,” she said. “They want detailed information based on the specific location where they are now or where they are going. This map will get us much closer to providing that.”

The traditional two-dimensional map includes Duke’s campuses outside of Durham such as the Marine Lab in Beaufort and the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore - complete with the additional layers of information. Eventually, Duke’s campus in Kunshan, China, will be included.

“A campus map that didn’t reflect these locations would present an incomplete picture of Duke,” said Mike Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “We will eventually have 3-D models of all these campuses, but it will take time to gather all of the images and information.”

For the 3-D experience, users click on the “Earth (3D)” tab in the upper corner of the map. The Google Earth application opens and zooms in to Duke’s campus from a view of Earth hanging in space. Viewers can roam the campus and view the exteriors of 325 buildings from any angle, including zooming up to the gargoyles.

“This is the most compelling part of the map,” said Morrell. “The models are so detailed that as you move, even the views through the arches of the Chapel change.”

Duke worked with concept3D, a computer modeling and mapping vendor, to create the online map. The 3-D models are based on thousands of photos of Duke taken this summer. Duke also provided aerial photography and architectural drawings to define the buildings. Additional information for the map came from administrative offices dealing with facilities, transportation, police, disability, student affairs and admissions. Meg McKee of Duke’s Office of News and Communications helped write and edit hundreds of building and site descriptions for the map.

“This map is a revolutionary tool for Duke, and the project was a case study in collaboration,” Schoenfeld said.

In addition to helping visitors to Duke, the new online map will assist Duke staff and faculty in their work. Facilities Management, for example, plans to use the map to help guide the size and location of new buildings or additions.

“With a 3-D model, it is much easier to see what sight lines might be interrupted, or how a building fits with the neighboring buildings,” said Greg Anspach, GIS manager for Facilities. Beginning in 2012, the maps team will work with departments and units interested in developing the map for local purposes, such as adding photos or videos of the interiors of buildings, creating virtual tours of a specific school, integrating the map into events calendars or planning an evacuation route.

“We’ve got a great foundation here, which allows us to meet the growing expectations users have about online maps,” Schoenfeld said. “The fun stuff now will come as the Duke community thinks about how to use it in new and different ways.”

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Reposted from Google Earth Blog:

Paul McCartney is in the middle of his brief “On The Run” tour, performing in various North American stadiums to huge crowds.

In a few days (this Sunday and Monday) he’ll be playing in Chicago’s Wrigley Field, andconcept3D has built a really neat tool to help show you what the view will look like from your seat.

It reminds me a bit of Room77, which allows you to preview your hotel room in Google Earth. As Google Earth continues to become more realistic, especially with 3D buildings and trees, tools like these will likely become more common and more useful.

One of the best parts of this Wrigley/McCartney model is the drop-down menu in the KMZ file itself. If you expand (+) the folder once it’s loaded in your “Places” sidebar, you can click the section where you’ll be sitting and the camera will automatically fly around to show you what your view will look like from that section. You can get the KMZ file here, but be warned that it’s quite a large file at around 10MB.

If you don’t wish to load the full file, concept3d has created a short video to show you around the model:

We’ve shown you some of concept3d’s work in the past, including the excellent 3D Virtual Campus at Northeastern University. They’re a custom Google Earth modeling shop, and certainly a good one to contact if you need some 3D work done for a project.

I hope to see more of this kind of work done for various events in the future, as it’s a grea way to preview what kind of view you’ll have from your seats.

DURHAM, NC - Chris Sardinas faced the front of Forlines House on Chapel Drive and panned a camera across the building from right to left, capturing 12 photographs of the building that houses Duke Alumni Affairs.

He walked by the original 1930s stone of the entryway and turned a corner around the sunroom.

“I’m trying to take pictures that show the structure of the building,” said Sardinas, brushing aside a twig obstructing the view before snapping another photo and moving to the next section of the building.

Sardinas and fellow photographer, Robert Stephens, will take thousands of photographs like these through Monday, Aug. 1, as part of a Duke campus 3-D modeling and mapping project. Their photographs will help create a detailed, three-dimensional model of Duke and a data-rich two-dimensional map. This will give virtual visitors the opportunity to enjoy the gothic architecture of campus and offer faculty, staff and students the ability to create customized maps for events and programs at Duke.

“It will give us the ability to present as close to a real-time, real-place portrait of the campus as we can get,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations at Duke. “Viewing the campus in three dimensions will make this experience more breathtaking.”

Duke hired concept3D, a computer modeling firm from Boulder, Colo., to create highly accurate, computer-generated models of the exteriors of 325 buildings across the university campus and medical center. Concept3D will combine these models with existing detailed two-dimensional maps and other information provided by Duke to create the three-dimensional model of Duke and update Duke’s online campus map.

The model will be available to the public through Google Earth and incorporated into Duke’s website and mobile map applications later this year.

“The field of mapping is changing rapidly and we have been considering for several years how to respond to the demand for new interactive maps of Duke,” Schoenfeld said. “Students, visitors and staff are beginning to expect to be able to create customized tours and navigate around a virtual campus as easily as they do the real one.”

Duke Facilities Management and Medical Center Engineering and Operations Department are providing campus maps, architectural plans and aerial photos to concept3D to ensure that the building models are precisely created and placed in Google Earth. The modelers will use details from the thousands of photos to “paint” the correct colors and textures on building exteriors and ensure that unique architectural details, such as gargoyles, are included.

In a separate but related project, another group - the Google Maps Street View team - will arrive on campus in August to take more photographs. They will capture views along Duke’s private roads and pedestrian areas and also create 360-degree interior photos of some of Duke’s more famous buildings for Google Maps with Street View.

The result of these projects will be a new campus map that allows users to toggle between the three-dimensional Google Earth model and a traditional two-dimensional map that integrates with Google Maps Street View. Duke will be able to add layers of information to this map, such as parking and dining options, bus routes and wheelchair accessible entries.

Users will be able to view the map and data in a two-dimensional interactive format on a mobile device at m.duke.edu, or in 3-D on more powerful devices through Duke’s website. Users will also be able to choose a portion of the map and the levels they are interested in and create a printable PDF.

“We’ve found that students like 3-D, but their parents still like paper maps,” said Oliver Davis, CEO of concept3D.

Schoenfeld expects that as soon as the new 3-D campus and upgraded  maps project appear online, departments across the university will invent different ways to use the information, from creating virtual tours to planning emergency drills.

“It’s an exciting project because the ability to add information and develop location-based services and applications will transform our digital media in ways that we can’t yet predict,” Schoenfeld said.

Want to find out why scientists are creating “vulture restaurants” to combat the decline of these birds in Nepal? Or perhaps you want to explore the Atlantic forests of Brazil and the tapir —a fascinating pig-like creature that actually is related to the horse and rhino? Or would you rather go fishing to understand the approach to helping Nassau grouper make a comeback?

Now you’re one step closer to these fascinating conservation projects with the new Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund’s (DWCF) Google Earth site, which enables you to take a virtual tour of places around the globe where DWCF is helping to protect wildlife and wild places.

Visitors to the DWCF Facebook page can click on “Discover DWCF” and search by animal type, organization or year funded to “fly” over conservation efforts supported by the DWCF annual grant program www.disney.com/conservation.

On the map, click a project icon and you see a snapshot summary of the project, a photo, and links to videos, websites, and social media sites, if available. You even could be the first to “like” your favorite project, and the story will appear on your Facebook Newsfeed with a link back to the Google Earth site.

The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund has contributed more than $15.6 million to non-profit organizations since its inception in 1995 to support everything from training for gorilla patrols in Africa, to satellite support to monitor sea turtles, to a bush camp for children in Zimbabwe to learn about their native African wildlife.

Disney guests support the fund in a variety of ways, from adding a dollar or more to their purchases of food and gifts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and select resorts, to participating in special animal experiences at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and The Seas with Nemo & Friends at Epcot, to purchasing reusable shopping bags and other items on Disney Cruise Line and at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts.

This past Sunday (June 5) was a day of global recognition for World Environment Day. What better time to take a tour around the world, visiting projects that are making a difference for people and nature? And while you’re exploring the DWCF Google Earth site, why not become a fan of the DWCF on Facebook so you can stay up to date on the people and projects the fund supports.

Read the original Disney blog entry >>

Visit the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund Google Earth site >>

Every Memorial Day, Boulder hosts the BolderBOULDER - one of the country’s biggest 10k running races. This year, the Google Boulder office worked with the BolderBOULDER crew to present the course in Google Earth. Over the past several years Google and others have modeled a large portion of Boulder. With the addition of mile markers and new 3D models, runners and fans can enjoy the whole course in 3D and Google Earth – from their Web browser.

Using the Google Earth API, concept3D converted the course map and Google Earth content into a browser-friendly format. Take a look for yourself (mile marker 4 can be seen in the image above with Casey Middle School and Boulder in the Background) and let us know what you think.

http://sites.concept3d.com/bolderboulder/

Read more on the Google SketchUp Blog: http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com/2011/05/mapping-bolderboulder-in-3d.html

Earning the Google Maps Javascript API V3 Certified Developer badge (as well as the Geo3D and KML Badges) was no trivial exercise. There are several components to earning this status and a grading of 3000 points (5000 point for the geo qualification). 1) The exam (2 hour exam for 1000 points) 2) Client references 3 ) Project examples 4) Community participation. The exam for JS Maps had a few challenging questions around mercator projection and other navigational math questions. And, each two hour exam was multiple choice with the option to choose as many ‘correct’ answers. In the Geo and Maps exams we found 2 out of date questions or incorrect, ‘correct’ answers (which were disputed and accepted).

Either way, Google makes you earn the qualified developer status and we’re proud to be the first company with all three badges.

concept3D’s CampusBird interactive mapping service for colleges, universities and schools continues to evolve with advances to its content management system - named Atlas. Atlas allows schools to publish their map on their website with 2 lines of embed code while self managing  the map, its images, video and more.