Crowdsourcing is an increasingly popular way to tackle big problems — both Facebook and Google are taking this approach to translating the web into multiple languages.

Now Google is leveraging the wisdom of the crowds for another purpose: the Building Maker tool helps users make accurate 3D models of buildings for representation in Google Earth. Using Google-provided aerial photographs, you essentially overlay appropriate 3D shapes on top of several different views of a building to construct an accurate model of it. When finished, submit your building to Google for review. If approved, the model will be added to the 3D Buildings layer in Google Earth.







For now, you can only construct buildings in 50 cities (dear Google: no Los Angeles? What gives?), but the company will be adding more over time. You don't have to be familiar with a building to generate a decent model of it, though — and for geography and travel buffs it's a fun way to engage with different cities around the world.

Just like with the Monopoly City Streets "virtual" building initiative, you can use the free Google SketchUp to edit or modify your creations, and the finished products will live in the Google 3D Warehouse, an online database of 3D models.

Check out a video demo of Building Maker below and let us know if you've had a chance to use the tool, or if you plan to. We found it fun, easy, and even slightly addicting.





