Digital Earth [Vice President Gore, 1998]
A multi-resolution, three-dimensional representation of the planet, into which we can embed vast quantities of geo-referenced data.
a `collaboratory’ – a laboratory without walls – for re-search scientists seeking to understand the complex interactions between humanity and our environment.
a “user interface” – a browsable, 3-D version of the planet available at various levels of resolution, a rapidly growing universe of networked geospatial information, and the mechanisms for integrating and displaying information from multiple sources.
Source: NSF 1998 planning viewgraph