Virtual Hawaii

Having a little fun with 3D technology —

A new website backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar says it will offer potential visitors to Hawaii the ability to view hotels, shops and tourist attractions in three dimensions and from different angles in an interactive virtual tour.

Team Vision Virtual launched 3DHawaii.com on Thursday, promoting the website as the “next generation travel-planning and booking tool.”

The company has signed up three dozen hotels and stores, which can be viewed on the site along with almost 2,000 beaches, museums and other tourist attractions – from Kilauea volcano on the Big Island to Saint Damien’s grave on Molokai and the Duke Kahanamoku statue in Waikiki.

Hawaii is the first of 10 states for which the Honolulu-based company plans to build a similar 3-D portal incorporating Google Earth technology. The popular software program provides access to the world’s geographical information through digital maps, satellite imagery and Google’s search tools.

Bruce Polderman, product manager for Google Earth, said 3DHawaii’s use of Google Earth technology is impressive and called the website an “innovative approach to vacation planning.”

Viewers can virtually fly around computer-generated images of hotel exteriors, and the free website provides access to photos and videos of hotel lobbies, rooms, swimming pools and other features.