<s>
A	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
is	O
a	O
three-dimensional	O
(	O
3D	O
)	O
software	O
model	O
or	O
representation	O
of	O
Earth	O
or	O
another	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
provides	O
the	O
user	O
with	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
freely	O
move	O
around	O
in	O
the	O
virtual	O
environment	O
by	O
changing	O
the	O
viewing	O
angle	O
and	O
position	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compared	O
to	O
a	O
conventional	O
globe	O
,	O
virtual	B-Application
globes	I-Application
have	O
the	O
additional	O
capability	O
of	O
representing	O
many	O
different	O
views	O
of	O
the	O
surface	O
of	O
Earth	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
20	O
,	O
1997	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
an	O
offline	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
Virtual	B-Application
Globe	I-Application
98	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
Cosmi	O
's	O
3D	B-Application
World	I-Application
Atlas	I-Application
in	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
widely	O
publicized	O
online	O
virtual	B-Application
globes	I-Application
were	O
NASA	B-Language
WorldWind	I-Language
(	O
released	O
in	O
mid-2004	O
)	O
and	O
Google	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
(	O
mid-2005	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	B-Application
globes	I-Application
may	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
study	O
or	O
navigation	O
(	O
by	O
connecting	O
to	O
a	O
GPS	O
device	O
)	O
and	O
their	O
design	O
varies	O
considerably	O
according	O
to	O
their	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Very	O
often	O
such	O
virtual	B-Application
globes	I-Application
aim	O
to	O
provide	O
as	O
true	O
a	O
representation	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
as	O
is	O
possible	O
,	O
with	O
worldwide	O
coverage	O
up	O
to	O
a	O
very	O
detailed	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
type	O
of	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
exists	O
whose	O
aim	O
is	O
not	O
the	O
accurate	O
representation	O
of	O
the	O
planet	O
,	O
but	O
instead	O
a	O
simplified	O
graphical	O
depiction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
more	O
and	O
more	O
high-resolution	O
satellite	O
imagery	O
and	O
aerial	O
photography	O
become	O
accessible	O
for	O
free	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
latest	O
online	O
virtual	B-Application
globes	I-Application
are	O
built	O
to	O
fetch	O
and	O
display	O
these	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ArcGIS	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
,	O
a	O
lightweight	O
client	O
for	O
ArcGIS	B-Application
Server	I-Application
,	O
supports	O
WMS	B-Application
and	O
many	O
other	O
GIS	O
file	O
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bing	B-Application
Maps	I-Application
,	O
3D	O
interface	O
runs	O
inside	O
Internet	O
Explorer	O
and	O
Firefox	O
,	O
and	O
uses	O
NASA	O
Blue	O
Marble	B-Application
:	O
Next	O
Generation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bhuvan	B-Application
is	O
an	O
India-specific	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earth3D	B-Language
,	O
a	O
program	O
that	O
visualizes	O
the	O
Earth	O
in	O
a	O
real-time	O
3D	O
view	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earth3D	B-Language
is	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
(	O
GPL	B-License
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EarthBrowser	B-Application
,	O
an	O
Adobe	O
Flash/AIR	O
-based	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
with	O
real-time	O
weather	O
forecasts	O
,	O
earthquakes	O
,	O
volcanoes	O
,	O
and	O
webcams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
,	O
satellite	O
and	O
aerial	O
photos	O
dataset	O
(	O
including	O
commercial	O
DigitalGlobe	O
images	O
)	O
with	O
international	O
road	O
dataset	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
popular	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
along	O
with	O
NASA	B-Language
World	I-Language
Wind	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
MapJack	B-Application
is	O
a	O
flash	O
based	O
map	O
covering	O
areas	O
in	O
Canada	O
,	O
France	O
,	O
Latvia	O
,	O
Macau	O
,	O
Malaysia	O
,	O
Puerto	O
Rico	O
,	O
Singapore	O
,	O
Sweden	O
,	O
Thailand	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Marble	B-Application
,	O
part	O
of	O
KDE	B-Application
,	O
with	O
data	O
provided	O
by	O
OpenStreetMap	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
NASA	O
Blue	O
Marble	B-Application
:	O
Next	O
Generation	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Marble	B-Application
is	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
software	I-License
(	O
LGPL	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NASA	B-Language
World	I-Language
Wind	I-Language
,	O
USGS	O
topographic	O
maps	O
and	O
several	O
satellite	O
and	O
aerial	O
image	O
datasets	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
popular	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
along	O
with	O
Google	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
World	B-Language
Wind	I-Language
is	O
open-source	B-Application
software	I-Application
(	O
NOSA	B-License
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NORC	B-Application
is	O
a	O
street	O
view	O
web	O
service	O
for	O
Central	O
and	O
Eastern	O
Europe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenWebGlobe	B-Language
,	O
a	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
SDK	O
written	O
in	O
JavaScript	B-Language
using	O
WebGL	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenWebGlobe	B-Language
is	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
software	I-License
(	O
MIT	B-License
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WorldWide	B-Application
Telescope	I-Application
features	O
an	O
Earth	O
mode	O
with	O
emphasis	O
on	O
data	O
import/export	O
,	O
time-series	O
support	O
and	O
a	O
powerful	O
tour	O
authoring	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
availability	O
of	O
satellite	O
imagery	O
,	O
online	O
public	O
domain	O
factual	O
databases	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
CIA	O
World	O
Factbook	O
have	O
been	O
incorporated	O
into	O
virtual	B-Application
globes	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
software	O
was	O
widely	O
popularized	O
by	O
(	O
and	O
may	O
have	O
been	O
first	O
described	O
in	O
)	O
Neal	O
Stephenson	O
's	O
famous	O
science	O
fiction	O
novel	O
Snow	O
Crash	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CIC	O
uses	O
their	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
as	O
a	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
for	O
keeping	O
track	O
of	O
all	O
their	O
geospatial	O
data	O
,	O
including	O
maps	O
,	O
architectural	O
plans	O
,	O
weather	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
data	O
from	O
real-time	O
satellite	O
surveillance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	B-Application
globes	I-Application
(	O
along	O
with	O
all	O
hypermedia	O
and	O
virtual	B-Application
reality	I-Application
software	O
)	O
are	O
distant	O
descendants	O
of	O
the	O
Aspen	B-General_Concept
Movie	I-General_Concept
Map	I-General_Concept
project	O
,	O
which	O
pioneered	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
using	O
computers	O
to	O
simulate	O
distant	O
physical	O
environments	O
(	O
though	O
the	O
Movie	O
Map	O
's	O
scope	O
was	O
limited	O
to	O
the	O
city	O
of	O
Aspen	O
,	O
Colorado	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
the	O
functions	O
of	O
virtual	B-Application
globes	I-Application
were	O
envisioned	O
by	O
Buckminster	O
Fuller	O
who	O
in	O
1962	O
envisioned	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
a	O
Geoscope	O
that	O
would	O
be	O
a	O
giant	O
globe	O
connected	O
by	O
computers	O
to	O
various	O
databases	O
.	O
</s>
