An in-depth look at the history of Street View
by Google Earth Blog on Mar.15, 2013, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA
Google's Street View project has seen amazing growth over the past few years, going further than virtually anyone could have predicted. The vast number of roads that it covers is simply astounding, not to mention the creative uses of it like hiking the Grand Canyon, diving in the oceans, riding along on a train or a snowmobile, down the Amazon River and much more.
Drew Olanoff of TechCrunch recently spent some time with members of the Street View team to learn more about how the project began and he came away with some amazing insights including some of the following:
• The first Street View vehicle was "Frankenstein-looking" and didn't work particularly well, but did a good enough job to help prove the concept of Street View.
• They've driven over five million unique miles, now showing imagery from over 3,000 cities in 47 countries around the world.
• The original cameras they used in 2007 were 5 megapixels. Now they're using 75 megapixel cameras.
• The main car mount has gone through a variety of iterations, and now currently uses 15 cameras.
It's a fascinating article with a lot of great insights into the early days of Street View, challenges they've overcome, and some ideas of where it's heading in the future. Check it all out in the full article on TechCrunch.