Big commercial companies will continue to develop increasingly complex virtual environments to sell their products. Looks like Disney is already down that path. This kind of technology won't replace the physical world for a long time but it is a first step.

But some observers are suggesting that, in creating such a detailed online planning tool, Disney may be opening the door to virtual trips that take the place of the real thing. For instance, Andrew Smith of the Dallas Morning News wrote semi-seriously that, with the price of both air fare and gas rising so fast, "I think parents with gullible children should consider 'taking their kids to Disney World' by sitting them down in front of a monitor."

Andrew Frank a research director on the project said, "we're still "quite a ways from substituting a virtual vacation for a physical one."

He added that, while ads might become part of such an immersive online experience, companies will "have to make sure the experience doesn't end up feeling totally commercialized." Nevertheless, Frank said, 3-D may become an even more ubiquitous part of any real-estate-based promotion than it is now.