Ala. firm creates virtual 3-D London for Games

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — As the Summer Olympics approach, somewhere in England men and women are virtually flying and hovering over metropolitan London using a 3-D computer model made in Huntsville. Who these men and women are and who they work for is a secret. Precisely what they are using the virtual London for is also secret.

But if you knew that the photo-realistic, 2,800-square-kilometer computer world is accurate down to the sight lines and distances from building tops to street corners, you might suspect this model of London has something to do with security, traffic analysis or scenario planning for the games.