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by rd 489 days ago
Does anything like this exist for just flying around cities (not SF, anywhere) in general? Would love to experience what a drone sees even if it's in a limited area.
2 comments

More conventional mesh-based photogrammetry options include:

- https://maps.google.com (satellite view)

- https://earth.google.com (also in browser, possibly better camera controls for what you want)

- Bing Maps (3D flyover mode, more stale data in my experience)

- Apple Maps satellite view (only on macOS/iOS)

- Google Earth VR[1] (requires a Windows PC and a VR headset that can connect to it)

- Microsoft Flight Sim 2020/2024 (requires a beefy Windows PC, uses Bing Maps plus a lot of other enhancements and rendering goodness. Most lifelike "feels like I'm there" but not true to earth)

I'm not aware of splat-based city photogrammetry aside from one-offs like this but I'd love to learn if there's any such projects!

[1] https://store.steampowered.com/app/348250/Google_Earth_VR/

There are a couple okay apps on the Meta Quest that use the Google Earth API and you can fly around. It's neat. Wooorld. Fly. EarthQuest.