Has anyone every heard of a program which analyses a satellite map and attempts to generate three dimensional buildings that roughly match the length/width of their real life counterparts?
The use in programs like Google Earth or FlightGear would be phenomenal.
Anybody heard of something like this already existing?
EDIT:
Any references to related work would be great as well!
This can be achieved using photogrammetry from stereo imagery (airborne or high-resolution satellite). Stereo imagery consists of a pair of registered images taken from slightly different angles or from different positions and can be used to calculate elevations very precisely. You can also derive information from building shadows if you know when and at what exact time the image was taken and have information on the sensor and image geometry.
Two other options would be 1) to use LIDAR (expensive, not readily available), or 2) to obtain shapefiles with building footprints and heights (sometimes available from local governments or other sources).