Does google maps API provide elevation details for buildings?

I am a final year Computer Science undergraduate student from India. I want to create a WPF application that displays 3D buildings like in the latest Google maps 5 for android. This will be the basis of my final year project. I have some questions before i start working on this.

1. Should I make it desktop or web based, or should I use the web to store some metadata and render the data in the desktop software?

2. For 3D display of buildings in a map area, is WPF enough or will I need knowledge of XNA and Direct X too?

3. Will this violate Google Maps TOS if I use Google Maps API? (I want to do something Google Maps does not provide in India) Is using Bing Maps a开发者_Python百科 better option?

4. Is it feasible to read building elevations and rendering them using the above mentioned Maps APIs? Is it that the elevation data available through Google Maps API is only for the terrain and not for individual buildings?

I have three months to complete this project and have given details of the technologies I intend to work with.

Will I need in-depth knowledge of any more technologies for this?

Excuse me if I missed some detail. I am posting this from my cellphone using opera mobile. It's time we have an android client for stackoverflow.

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1) That is entirely up to you. As you don't specify your target user then it is hard to say what the best way to deliver the application is. For example, if you want to be able to widely distribute it and have a high compatibility then perhaps a web-based application would be best. Conversley, if you require high performance and are targeting a specific os, chip-set, etc then a stand-alone application may be better.

2) Again, it is hard to say. WPF can certainly render 3d objects and may provide you with everything you require. If again you require more complex rendering you may also want to look at later versions of Direct3D, which can help a lot with things like HDR textures, Multi-threading, etc.

3) I am not a lawyer so I can't say for sure - even if I If I were it would still depend on the specifics of your implementation. That said, the bing maps section 2 (i) seems pretty good for you - Academic use seems pretty open as long as you make the application available publicly without restriction. The Google TOS seems more restrictive to me at least.

4) To me that would be a breech of the Google Maps/Earth TOS - The section on Restrictions on use seems pretty clear...But again, I am not a lawyer so I can't say for sure...