They are programmed into the virtual model as well, creating a detailed virtual city which anyone can navigate with the click of a computer mouse.

CNN: Virtual L.A.: A traffic-less trip

Building a Starbucks franchise in a FarmVille virtual city for firms like Zynga and Facebook is just an inkling.

FORBES: Consumers: Market with Them, Not to Them

Near Global is launching in 2009 with the promise to offer the most accurate 3D version of a city ever produced as a virtual world.

BBC: Virtual worlds with real purposes