My Google Map Blog

A recent story in the news is that the Government of India is currently in discussions with Google over allowing Google to capture and publish 3D imagery of Indian cities. As we have often noted, 3D imagery in Asia is sorely lacking and India would be a good place to start to rectify that.

India has long had a somewhat cautious relationship with Google Earth and Street View. They have the usual privacy concerns as well as a desire to censor certain sensitive locations. India is not unique in either regard. Many European countries have had concerns about Street View, and Germany has largely rejected it, with only a few locations in Germany currently being covered. Censorship of imagery is also widespread, with Europe having some of the more noticeable censorship. We have even noted a number of cases of censorship of Google’s 3D imagery, with pixelation being used in some areas in Greece and whole areas simply being left out of the 3D, as is the case in Barcelona.

India, however, has gradually been allowing Street View at various tourism destinations and it is believed that whole cites such as Hyderabad may soon get city wide coverage.

Mumbai, India. Indian cities do have some of the old type of 3D models, but they would be greatly improved with Google’s new 3D mesh.

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