Virtual Earth

I get an inexplicable feeling of excitement whenever I glimpse historical travel maps of mankind's greatest explorers, such as from Marcopolo's 13th century travels.

Silk Road Map of Marcopolo's legendary explorer days

Marcopolo was among the first Europeans to reach the far east lands of what is today's China. No one believed his swashbuckling tales from the eastern world upon his first return home. Yet when he exposed the first eastern cultural artifacts to the west, he defined the course of international trade history, hence the term Silk Road.

Makes you think, what if Marcopolo had Virtual Earth + GPS right in his fingertips back then?

Fast forward 800 years, it's pretty amazing to think that today's technology has mapped every surface of our planet. With Windows Live Virtual Earth service the image quality is just stunningly detailed.

Venice Blvd, in a place called America? Tell that to middle age Italians!

What's even more amazing, Windows Live Virtual Earth service comes with an enhanced 3D view combined with Microsoft Photosynth technology, which creates seamless virtual 3D landscapes from a library of high-res images, on-the-fly.

It's time to check out your own neighborhood from
Windows Live Virtual Earth!