For the service's 20th anniversary, Google was inspired by a social media trend from last year in which people shared historic images of locations in Google Maps. Now, Google Earth is getting a "time travel" interface where you can see historic Street View images from almost any location.
While this part isn't new, Google is also using the 20th anniversary as an opportunity to surface its 3D timelapse feature. These animations use satellite data to show how an area has changed from a higher vantage point. They're just as cool as when they were announced in 2021.
by Ryan Whitwam, Ars Technica | Read more:
Image: Google
[ed. From 15th anniversary:]
Google is also introducing a new in-house camera built specifically for Street View. The company says it's "roughly the size of a house cat" and weighs less than 15 pounds. The goal is to take "all the power, resolution and processing capabilities that we’ve built into an entire Street View car" and cram it into an ultra-portable package that can be shipped to underserved areas "like the Amazon jungle."Google already has several versions of a backpack-mounted "Trekker" Street View camera for hiking trailers, so this camera is designed to augment its car fleet. Street View cars are big, rolling computers that are hard to move around the world, while this camera is completely self-contained. It can be easily strapped to the roof racks of a car and is controlled via a smartphone app. There's even a modular system for add-ons like lidar. ~ Read more:
