OGLE (Open GLExtractor) is a software package that allows the use of 3D data across multiple applications, like a "screen grab" for 3D graphics. This tool can be useful for animators and video game programmers who wish to use characters or environments in several scenarios; or for digital fabricators who need to realize computer-generated objects.

When you mash this software up with Google Earth, planners or architects (or anyone for that matter) gain the ability to create 3D printouts of chunks of land or clusters of buildings. Their NYC 3D prints have generated models of Ground Zero and Columbus Circle, and could do any other area, with great precision. The software is free and open, produced by EyeBeam, a R&D lab which "is focused entirely on incubating experimental technologies and media that directly enrich the public domain."

via: Make Blog