Over the past 15 years, Google’s Street View cars have traveled over 10 million miles (a distance that circles the entire globe more than 400 times) as they’ve collected more than 220 billion images from over 100 countries and territories. Whether it’s checking out what your childhood home looks like or if a restaurant has parking, most of us will have used Street View at some point. Now, for the first time, you can check out historical Street View imagery directly on your smartphone and Google has also announced the launch of a brand new, ultra-portable camera for the mapping service.
First the first time, you can travel back in time on your smartphone (both Android and iOS), tapping on the photo to see more information and then selecting “See more dates” to check out the imagery of the location dating as far back as 2007, which is when Street View was launched. It’s like having a little time capsule in your hand except you don’t need to dig it up and you literally have millions upon millions of locations to check out.
Below is a list of ‘Street View Highlights’ compiled by Google which contains many of the locations you would expect.
In the future, we can expect to see Street View covering even more locations thanks to the launch of the new ultra-portable camera that weighs in at just 15 pounds which is ‘roughly the size of a house cat’ according to Google. Despite its small footprint, the new camera is said to feature all of the power, resolution, and processing capabilities that were found in the Street View car, plus the ability to gain extra features via modules.
Features:
- It weighs less than 15 pounds. This means it can be shipped anywhere. This is especially handy when we work with partners around the world to capture imagery of traditionally under-mapped areas — like the Amazon jungle.
- It’s extremely customizable. Previously, we needed to create an entirely new camera system whenever we wanted to collect different types of imagery. But now, we can add on to this modular camera with components like lidar — laser scanners — to collect imagery with even more helpful details, like lane markings or potholes. We can add these features when we need them, and remove them when we don’t.
- It can fit on any car. Our new camera can be attached to any vehicle with a roof rack and operated right from a mobile device — no need for a specialized car or complex processing equipment. This flexibility will make collections easier for partners all over the world, and allow us to explore more sustainable solutions for our current fleet of cars — like plug-in hybrids or fully electric vehicles. You’ll start seeing our new camera in fun Google colors alongside our iconic Street View cars and trekkers next year.
