3pointD.com

There’s a nice article up by Randall Newton, the editor-in-chief of AECnews.com (that’s “Architecture, Engineering and Construction,” via Ogle Earth), in which he ponders the future of his industry in the Google Earth age — what I’d call the 3pointD world, actually. SketchUp figures prominently in his thoughts, as well as Autodesk (who may or may not be working on a solution for getting AutoCAD models into Google Earth), 3D gliders for navigating Google Earth, and the sensor Web.

Of course, Newton saves the best for last:

Google Earth is a 3D browser, and I think we are only in nursery school in terms of how it will be used. As fast as we find ways to configure data for use in a geospatial, 3D environment, we will be able to view it in Google Earth (as upgraded, of course). There is enormous potential here not only for AEC, but for society in general. Imagine being able to use Google Earth to track rural-urban population migration over time. Such migrations define construction timing and quantity in cities worldwide. Want to know what global warming is doing to the polar regions? Someday you’ll be able to model the changes in Google Earth, perhaps using a slider tool to view the changes year by year.

And much, much more.