The Urban Simulation Team @ UCLA is a long-term effort to build a real-time virtual reality model of the entire Los Angeles basin for use by architects, urban planners, emergency response teams, and government entities. The Team has already finished major sections of the city including downtown, the Pico Union district, El Pueblo, Mid-Wilshire, Wilshire-"Miracle Mile", LAX, Westwood, UCLA, Hollywood Blvd. and Vine St., MacArthur Park, Playa Vista, and a portion of South Central. When completed, the entire Virtual Los Angeles model will cover an area well in excess of 10,000 square miles and will elegantly scale from satellite images to street level views accurate enough to allow the signs in the windows of the shops and the graffiti on the walls to be legible. The finished model is estimated to exceed 1 terabyte in size and will be maintained on a large multi-client server that will allow multiple simulation clients to fly, drive and/or walk through the Virtual LA Model simultaneously. |
