Why virtual terrain?

Virtual tourism & travel planning
Education: geographical & general reference
Planning: land planning / land usage, urban planning
Civil engineering, telecommunications, utilities, and other infrastructure
Visualization of weather and other environmental attributes
Real Estate
Diplomacy
- example: pilots study virtual terrain in Bosnia
Games and entertainment
Communications: radio/TV/cellular transmitter placement and signal analysis
- example: Radio Mobile
Public participation in land management
- example: Virtual reality solutions to coastal erosion (UK, 2002) - "application of VRGIS can stimulate meaningful discussion and dialogue between groups traditionally associated with conflicting opinions."

The Israeli company Skyline has a good list of markets and applications for their Terra engine.
Another Israeli company, GeoSim specializes in cities, with its own list of Solutions: Urban Infrastructure, Tourism/Travel, Real Estate, Security/Defense, Entertainment, Media/Advertising
The UK services firm Skape lists uses in 2009 as "Architecture, Building Development, Planning Consultation, Environmental Consultation, Surveying, Marketing and advertising, Highways maintenance, Facilities management, Emergency services, Engineering, Local authorities, CAD design & visualisation".

Small areas of virtual terrain are called "Digital Terrain Modeling" by professionals in the civil engineering, landscaping, surveying and construction industries

The Defense Industry has always recognized the importance of virtual terrain.
- they use terms like "Automatic Population of Geospatial Databases"
- the line between military and entertainment is blurring, e.g. the Open Skies system claims to "show great promise as an actual training system as well as a unique and exciting game."

Google moves into virtual worlds, Business 2.0, May 2006
"You can already download user-generated layers that sit on top of Google's 3-D Earth and show you, for example, the location of celebrity houses or hiking trails or famous landmarks. One dating service has even started showing people looking for partners as a Google Earth layer. Real estate companies have started showing off virtual versions of their buildings (for sale in the real world) [...] There are, in short, many more opportunities in a virtual version of the real world than in an entirely fantastical world."

SRI called the idea "Digital Earth":
"Imagine being able to walk down the streets of Paris, seeing the sights and hearing the sounds around you, without leaving your home. You are able to converse with a friend who is also online, and the two of you decide to fly to Tahiti together. As you travel around the globe, you stop momentarily at places of interest to view three-dimensional (3D) representations of local structures, learn about representative works of art, browse historical information for the area, or view real-time video and audio feeds of local events. Apart from its entertainment value, the educational, environmental, and societal benefits of such a facility are enormous."

Research Triangle Institute evangelized the uses: Virtual Reality for Terrain Visualization
"Groups having such needs are the military who plan attacks across a battlefield, urban planners who are concerned with environmental impacts over a long period of time, golf course designers, architects, and many others. [...] Virtual Reality unlocks terrain planners from simply dealing with paper charts and other visual aids."

Professor Willem van Riet, South Africa:
"This what makes the challenges of illustration information in 3 or even 4 dimensions so exiting as I have found in the decision taking field that politicians operate in 3D is far more real than two dimensions. Even unsophisticated tribesmen will snap to 3D much faster than two dimensional maps where scale is often a difficult concept."

Vice President Al Gore wrote at great length about the importance of virtual terrain: The Digital Earth: Understanding our planet in the 21^st Century (January 31, 1998)
"I believe we need... a multi-resolution, three-dimensional representation of the planet, into which we can embed vast quantities of geo-referenced data."

Professor Bill Ribarsky calls it Virtual Landscapes
"What do travel agents, emergency response teams, urban festival planners, history and geography teachers, safari leaders, game designers, environmental scientists, chambers of commerce, landscape architects, real estate professionals, civil engineers, whitewater enthusiasts, architects, park service employees, city planners, environmental czars, and curious kids have in common?
They all need Virtual Landscapes."

Press quote from Cambridge Research Associates:
"The accuracy of PowerScene was demonstrated at the Bosnian Peace Summit in Dayton, Ohio where it was employed to both negotiate and draw actual borders. By providing a photo-realistic 3D representation of the territories in contention, PowerScene quelled border disputes and enabled participants to focus on the negotiation process."

From Wired 5.10, October '97: 'Killer Apps'
"The killer app Oliver Morton alludes to in "Private Spy" (Wired 5.08, page 114) requires one crucial component not mentioned in the article- elevation post data over which the 2-D images can be draped. Combining elevation information with satellite imagery for real-time visualization on a PC with inexpensive graphics accelerators will open up vast markets. Gamers can choose to play in real virtual worlds, while builders and real estate agents can walk through housing developments anywhere in the world. The killer app will be free, and the imagery and elevation data will be accessible over the Web for nominal charges."
W. Garth Smith, wgsmith@metavr.com

From Digital Mapping Paying Off in South Australia
"Imagine a single three-dimensional map of your neighborhood including everything from telephone poles to water pipes, electoral boundaries to subsurface geology... Couple that with the emergence of new kinds of analytical software, and you get a rough idea of the potential value of geographic information systems, an industry expected to grow immensely in coming years."

From Private Eyes, New York Times Magazine 1999.09.05
"By taking a "3-D fly-through of Yellowstone Park," you could choose the most scenic trail before leaving home. Or maybe you're in the real-estate market, scouring the hills for choice acreage."

From 3dvillage.com:
"Enables visitors to Walk the World by providing an active 3D environment that is engaging, entertaining and informative. With 3D Walking Tours, users can explore all the amenities a location has to offer, book or upgrade a hotel room, make dinner reservations and truly immerse themselves in local sites and attractions."