"Everywhere we go, people are just wanting more and more coverage," said Evan Rapoport, the product manager for Photo Spheres. Photo Sphere images can help users get a sense of place. Photo Sphere contributors are making it possible for Google to provide helpful imagery in places Street View has not yet reached. They can also be viewed on Google's "Views" website.
The photos can be seen on Google Maps when users search for a place and select the "photos" option. Google did not disclose how many Photo Sphere images have been submitted or published, but so far there are photos submitted from as far away as North Slope, Alaska, down to the South Pole. The user can then view the 360-degree image on the camera before uploading to Google Maps to be shared publicly.
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To populate the website with images, Google has begun recruiting individuals to contribute, the same way content was built up for online encyclopedia service Wikipedia.įor now, only those with a smartphone running Google's Jelly Bean 4.2 or higher operating software with the Google camera application can take the pictures, which involves the smartphone user standing in a spot and turning in a full circle while holding the camera. Owners of certain smartphones were able to take Photo Sphere photos starting last November, but Google ramped up the initiative this summer with a new "Views" website where the images can be seen. "Because the photos go through the moderation process before they are even published, I don't think we have concerns about things slipping through the cracks, and if they do, of course we have the tools that users can use to report issues," said Sierra Lovelace, a spokeswoman for Google. It'd be up to Google to delete the image. Users can also easily file a report of a photo that may include privacy violations. It has no plans to do so for the Photo Sphere images but said it has put in place a team of moderators to weed out racially derogatory or sexually explicit images.
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Google has taken steps to placate privacy worries with Street View, such as automatically blurring faces and license plates captured in photos by Street View vehicles.
"In other parts of the world, people are very uncomfortable with the idea of Google coming through and photographing everything, and you can imagine that they'd be even more uncomfortable with individuals doing this and collectively uploading to Google," he said. Parker Higgins, a spokesman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that although Google is not breaking any laws, some people already were bothered by Street View simply because they weren't used to the fact that anyone can type in their street address and see their house. everywhere."īut although many travelers are lauding the Photo Sphere initiative, it is raising concerns among privacy advocates and watchdog groups. "At a city level, at a street level, indoor, outdoor, on a trail, in Antarctica, in Africa, in the U.S. The idea with this project is to show you the world as it is, to bring you good imagery anywhere you might be interested in looking," said Luc Vincent, Google Maps engineering director. The search giant wants to turn your smartphone into a Street View camera and help it take 360-degree, interactive pictures of every nook and cranny on Earth.Įventually, Google wants its users to be able to view not only landmarks and buildings but also remote hiking trails, insides of theme park attractions, and beach hideaways - wherever a smartphone can go. The images have redefined the way people navigate, turning two-dimensional maps into a virtual tour guide.īut Google is seeing even more possibilities for one of the most popular Web tools.
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