6 ms·

It would be so cool to use Microsoft's "earth copy" for stuff other than just flight sim. They say it's the most accurate representation of the earth ever. Wond

It would be so cool to use Microsoft's "earth copy" for stuff other than just flight sim. They say it's the most accurate representation of the earth ever. Wonder if you can do some interesting science with that.

a2128 2y ago
Mostly military simulations and training, probably
pedalpete 2y ago
We used to be in this space, and with Ayvri/Doarama - which was a 3D virtual world but not a flight simulator, it was used by paragliders to replay flights, commercial drone operators, some defense, transportation planning (trains, maybe others as well), etc etc. We approached Microsoft when we were selling the company, and the response we got was "you're too close to work we're doing for us to even look at you or talk to you". I assumed that meant they are building out a digital twin, with capabilities to run in a browser at high speed with high resolution (which we did). That was 3 years ago. I'm surprised we haven't seen something from them yet.
- 7thpower 2y ago
  It is Microsoft after all. They are quick to put out press releases and imply or even promise functionality, but you can spend your entire life waiting for them to actually deliver.
gadtfly 2y ago
MSFS 2020's Earth is unbelievably good from the air, but it (understandably) does not look great and is sometimes not entirely physically coherent up close at the surface (outside of airports and a limited set of bespoke areas). There's also some crazy errors that are visible from the air, like many rivers being raised up hundreds of feet[0], and many bridges being solid underneath[1]. I always assumed one of primary things in a sequel would be to train an even bigger and better satellite maps -> 3D scenery model, especially one that understood a wider (and better-localized) variety of building configurations, so we'll see. [0] https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/river-altitude-raised-waterway-not-ground-spikes/ https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/river-altitude-raised-w... [1] https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/fix-photogrammetry-bridges-so-that-they-are-not-solid-underneath/ https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/fix-photogrammetry-brid...
arnaudsm 2y ago
"earth copy" is just marketing lingo. Models are approximations made for a specific goal at a time. You cannot build a model that is both good for gaming and meteorology. 99% of that engine value is procedural terrain and graphical shaders. It looks great but has no scientifical value. Just like the "digital twin" hype train, cool simulations have fancy graphics, useful simulations don't.
- ramesh31 2y ago
  >You cannot build a model that is both good for gaming and meteorology. This was the prevailing wisdom in AI before generalized transformers as well. We're rapidly moving toward black box hyperintelligent AGI.
  - arnaudsm 2y ago
    I was comparing expert systems here, not emergent ones
  - nradov 2y ago
    There has been zero motion towards true AGI so far, hyperintelligent or otherwise.
    - kylebenzle 2y ago
      So true! I think a lot of people, even here on HN, get confused by the marketing term, "AI".
      - freetanga 2y ago
        Authentic Ignorance, I guess…
    - falcor84 2y ago
      I would argue that humanity has been advancing rather steadily towards "true AGI" since at least the Jacquard loom. Otherwise, if you wait to admit progress until you actually have evidence for having achieved AGI, it'll just look like the Heaviside step function.
squeaky-clean 2y ago
That's the goal of Nvidia's "Earth 2" plans, which the article mentions very briefly.
- NikolaNovak 2y ago
  It's Neil Stephenson's snowcrash come to life :-)
b212 2y ago
Imagine GTA on that map. Wondering how many years away are we from this.
WillPostForFood 2y ago
The lighting, clouds, weather are great and make it look beautiful. Nature looks great in the game. But in terms of urban areas, particularly buildings and roads it is much much worse than Google Maps/Earth. You also see the seams in the construct in places like coastlines.
ThrowawayB7 2y ago
That used to exist as a product called Microsoft ESP. It got sold off to Lockheed Martin when the Flight Simulator project was shut down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator#Lockheed_Martin_Prepar3D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator#Loc...
jinushaun 2y ago
I would love a real world driving sim. I don’t really care for driving on race tracks, but real roads.
- knodi123 2y ago
  I've always said, a version of Grand Theft Auto, but with a real map of [your city], and with cops that enforce driving rules, would be a priceless tool for teaching young drivers. After I passed driver's ed, I still spent the next two years getting lost within a few miles of my house. But drop me in any alley in GTA5 and I can get to any other spot in a pretty short path (although I confess it often does involve dangerous jumps).
  - wolpoli 2y ago
    Midtown Madness 1 & 2 are most similar to what you are looking for.
  - dacryn 2y ago
    it's one of those things I'd do as a millionaire. Some people would buy boats, private planes, art, ... I would hire a team to replicate my child neighbourhood perfectly in a gran turismo or preferably GTA 5 engine lol. You'd get pretty far with a million USD in the modding community
    - KeplerBoy 2y ago
      Lol, if I were a millionaire I'd probably buy half a house somewhere kind of nice.
    - greggsy 2y ago
      You’d get flewced pretty quickly in any modding community.
  - greggsy 2y ago
    They could live stream the local radio for the soundtrack.
  - 2y ago

a2128 2y ago

Mostly military simulations and training, probably

pedalpete 2y ago

We used to be in this space, and with Ayvri/Doarama - which was a 3D virtual world but not a flight simulator, it was used by paragliders to replay flights, commercial drone operators, some defense, transportation planning (trains, maybe others as well), etc etc. We approached Microsoft when we were selling the company, and the response we got was "you're too close to work we're doing for us to even look at you or talk to you". I assumed that meant they are building out a digital twin, with capabilities to run in a browser at high speed with high resolution (which we did). That was 3 years ago. I'm surprised we haven't seen something from them yet.

7thpower 2y ago
It is Microsoft after all. They are quick to put out press releases and imply or even promise functionality, but you can spend your entire life waiting for them to actually deliver.

gadtfly 2y ago

MSFS 2020's Earth is unbelievably good from the air, but it (understandably) does not look great and is sometimes not entirely physically coherent up close at the surface (outside of airports and a limited set of bespoke areas). There's also some crazy errors that are visible from the air, like many rivers being raised up hundreds of feet[0], and many bridges being solid underneath[1]. I always assumed one of primary things in a sequel would be to train an even bigger and better satellite maps -> 3D scenery model, especially one that understood a wider (and better-localized) variety of building configurations, so we'll see. [0] https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/river-altitude-raised-waterway-not-ground-spikes/ https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/river-altitude-raised-w... [1] https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/fix-photogrammetry-bridges-so-that-they-are-not-solid-underneath/ https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/fix-photogrammetry-brid...

arnaudsm 2y ago

"earth copy" is just marketing lingo. Models are approximations made for a specific goal at a time. You cannot build a model that is both good for gaming and meteorology. 99% of that engine value is procedural terrain and graphical shaders. It looks great but has no scientifical value. Just like the "digital twin" hype train, cool simulations have fancy graphics, useful simulations don't.

ramesh31 2y ago
>You cannot build a model that is both good for gaming and meteorology. This was the prevailing wisdom in AI before generalized transformers as well. We're rapidly moving toward black box hyperintelligent AGI.
- arnaudsm 2y ago
  I was comparing expert systems here, not emergent ones
- nradov 2y ago
  There has been zero motion towards true AGI so far, hyperintelligent or otherwise.
  - kylebenzle 2y ago
    So true! I think a lot of people, even here on HN, get confused by the marketing term, "AI".
    - freetanga 2y ago
      Authentic Ignorance, I guess…
  - falcor84 2y ago
    I would argue that humanity has been advancing rather steadily towards "true AGI" since at least the Jacquard loom. Otherwise, if you wait to admit progress until you actually have evidence for having achieved AGI, it'll just look like the Heaviside step function.

squeaky-clean 2y ago

That's the goal of Nvidia's "Earth 2" plans, which the article mentions very briefly.

NikolaNovak 2y ago
It's Neil Stephenson's snowcrash come to life :-)

b212 2y ago

Imagine GTA on that map. Wondering how many years away are we from this.

WillPostForFood 2y ago

The lighting, clouds, weather are great and make it look beautiful. Nature looks great in the game. But in terms of urban areas, particularly buildings and roads it is much much worse than Google Maps/Earth. You also see the seams in the construct in places like coastlines.

ThrowawayB7 2y ago

That used to exist as a product called Microsoft ESP. It got sold off to Lockheed Martin when the Flight Simulator project was shut down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator#Lockheed_Martin_Prepar3D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator#Loc...

jinushaun 2y ago

I would love a real world driving sim. I don’t really care for driving on race tracks, but real roads.

knodi123 2y ago
I've always said, a version of Grand Theft Auto, but with a real map of [your city], and with cops that enforce driving rules, would be a priceless tool for teaching young drivers. After I passed driver's ed, I still spent the next two years getting lost within a few miles of my house. But drop me in any alley in GTA5 and I can get to any other spot in a pretty short path (although I confess it often does involve dangerous jumps).
- wolpoli 2y ago
  Midtown Madness 1 & 2 are most similar to what you are looking for.
- dacryn 2y ago
  it's one of those things I'd do as a millionaire. Some people would buy boats, private planes, art, ... I would hire a team to replicate my child neighbourhood perfectly in a gran turismo or preferably GTA 5 engine lol. You'd get pretty far with a million USD in the modding community
  - KeplerBoy 2y ago
    Lol, if I were a millionaire I'd probably buy half a house somewhere kind of nice.
  - greggsy 2y ago
    You’d get flewced pretty quickly in any modding community.
- greggsy 2y ago
  They could live stream the local radio for the soundtrack.
- 2y ago