An engineer makes a three-dimensional model of each piece of equipment before the life-size version is built.

WSJ: Creating: Peter Heuken, Playground Designer

The laser beams on the Tele Atlas vans scan each building on the road thousands of times, creating a three-dimensional model of the neighborhood that, when matched to photos from the high-resolution cameras, can be used to re-create a realistic cityscape.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Layers of muscle and skin were added by computer to a scan of the skull and the result was made into a three-dimensional plastic model.

BBC: Richard III: Facial reconstruction shows king's features

The three-dimensional environment allows movement in any direction on foot, and the cockpit flight model allows you to roll and strafe in any direction.

CNN: Review: The lowdown on Descent 3 for Linux

The complicated business-model considerations for driverless cars have already kicked off an intense game of three-dimensional chess, and Google could obviously lose.

FORBES: Google��s Job One