Microsoft will work with 3D design and visualization software developer Dassault Systèmes, to add a new dimension to its Virtual Earth mapping and satellite imagery service, the companies announced Tuesday.

Through this partnership, Microsoft will be able to invite users of Virtual Earth to contribute their own 3D models of buildings featured on the maps, much as Google already does with the “3D Warehouse” layer in its Google Earth software and the free modeling tool Google SketchUp, now at version 6.

To encourage development of models for inclusion in Virtual Earth, Dassault Systèmes has built an online community, 3dvia.com, around consumer uses of its and other companies’ 3D modeling tools. The community began life as Teapotters.com, a creative project set up by a group of Dassault employees, but opened its doors as 3Dvia.com