computer science

Terravision

Terravision is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Terravision rather than just read about it. In short: Terravision is a 3D mapping software developed in 1993 by the German company ART+COM in Berlin as a "networked virtual representation of the Earth based on satellite images, aerial shots, altitude data and architectural data". Development of the project was supported by the Deutsche Post (now Deutsche Telekom).

Key takeaways

Terravision belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Terravision to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Terravision from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Terravision is a 3D mapping software developed in 1993 by the German company ART+COM in Berlin as a "networked virtual representation of the Earth based on satellite images, aerial shots, altitude data and architectural data". Development of the project was supported by the Deutsche Post (now Deutsche Telekom). Google Earth was released in 2001. Because Terravision was the first system to provide a seamless web navigation and visualization of the earth in a massively large spatial data environment, Joachim Sauter called it a prequel to Google Earth. In 2014, ART+COM filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming it infringed the 1995 patent rights of Terravision. In May 2016 the jury of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware found in favor of Google. ART+COM also lost on appeal at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2017.

Description Terravision is a networked virtual representation of the Earth based on satellite images, aerial shots, altitude data and architectural data collected by the company in 1993. The project was realized by Joachim Sauter, Pavel Mayer, Axel Schmidt, Gerd Grueneis, Dirk Luesebrink, Hendrik Tramberend and Steffen Meschkat using Onyx Computers developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc.

History Terravision was developed starting in 1993, originally as an art project by ART+COM in Berlin, a collective of artists and computer hackers, some from the Chaos Computer Club. In 1995, ART+COM filed a patent called "Method and Device for Pictorial Representation of Space-related Data." In 1995, then Deutsche Post (now Deutsche Telekom) approached Art+Com searching for high-end applications for its high-speed VBN network. In 1994, Art+COM presented its project then named it T_Vision at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Kyoto, on twin monitors of a RealityEngine by Silicon Graphics. An image of the earth in space on a five-foot television screen could be spun by a large trackball beside it. According to Mark Pesce, ART+COM's two main programmers Pavel Meyer and Axel Schmidt were able to fix the software program which they had set up in Berlin on a different machine, in the last 10 minutes prior to opening of the conference. T_Vision was shown one month later to the public for the first time at the Interactive Media Festival in the Variety Arts Center, Los Angeles, winning the judge's $5,000 prize.

Lawsuit against Google Google Earth was released in 2001. By 2006, Art+Com emailed Google about Terravision. Google chief technology officer Michael Jones visited to discuss licensing and Michelle Lee, then a Google lawyer, showed interest in the patent. However Art+Com did not accept the offer, and in 2010 reissued its patent, asking Google to get a license under their patent. When this did not occur, Art+Com filed a lawsuit against Google in February 2014 for patent infringement, seeking US$100 million. In May 2016, the jury of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware found that a Stanford Research Institute (SRI) geographical visualization system known as "SRI TerraVision" was used earlier than Terravision. In October 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed that decision and invalidated Art+Com's patent.

In popular culture Terravision and its creators feature in the 2021 German miniseries The Billion Dollar Code made by Netflix which recounts the history of the program in a fictionalized account and ends with the 2014 patent infringement lawsuit they brought against Google. The series, which was shown on Netflix is prefaced by an episode of interviews with the ART+COM developers of Terravision and their legal representative.

References

External links TerraVision TM by SRI International, archived website. U.S. patent RE44550 T_Vision: “The Billion-Dollar Code”, from The Playful World: How Technology is Transforming Our Imagination (2000, Mark Pesce)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Terravision

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Terravision claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Terravision before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Terravision ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Terravision

In research: Terravision appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Terravision in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Terravision is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1993 software, Virtual globes, Web mapping, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Terravision outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Terravision in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Terravision means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Terravision out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Terravision in simple terms?

Why does Terravision matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Terravision?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Terravision.