FLY THE SL SKIES

I'm sure at some point we've all found ourselves waiting outside an airport for family or friends on a delayed flight. Sure, it's easy enough to find flight status on the internet. But Haruki Watanabe has created an SL application that is sure to amaze you.

Imagine a "second life"-sized map you can walk around on as you watch prim versions of RL airplanes floating by as they approach their destination. Flight-Tracker does just that. This innovative technology is based on an internet application made by students of the ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) as their graduation project. A receiver located near Winterthur captures the transponder data of airplanes in range which is then processed and laid over a Google map. Flight-Tracker takes the data collected by this internet application and turns it into a 3-D model in-world.


The airplanes in range are rezed over the map on the floor according to their RL coordinates. They also are tilted according to their angle of descent/ascent. If the information is available, the prim planes also show the logo of the particular airline. Clicking the back of each airplane provides the flight-details in hovertext above the plane. Currently the information is just for the Zurich area. The Zurich airport is shown as a big yellow dot in the middle of the map with real-time weather data.


Of course, the real fun started when we figured out you could sit on the planes and catch a free ride across Zurich. Jade and I aren't sure but we think Ammon tried to gas the passengers of his plane. Don't worry. Everyone seemed OK and Ammon swears they smell like roses. Jade and I aren't convinced. Scientists are still studying the long-term psychological impact of Pera gas on lab rats and orphans. Nonetheless, this is a great place to visit and we look forward to seeing future versions. Go fly the friendly Swiss skies and enjoy this unique creation at Haruki's Place & Shop on Golden Business Area.