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Google Street View Turns 10! What seems so yesterday has really come a very long way!
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Google Street View Turns 10! What seems so yesterday has really come a very long way!

by Super DaddyJune 1, 2017
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10 years ago, Larry Page had a wild idea of creating a 360-degree map of the world, and hence, Google Street View was born. Fast forward to today, Google Street View gives us endless possibilities allowing us to do awesome stuff like scale mountains, dive into the depths of the ocean, scout out ramen spots, and walk through museums in far corners of the world.

In 10 years, if you were recorded on a street doing a weird pose, your facial attributes would have pretty much changed a lot by now. Not just that, the technology that we are now using and even the appearance of the planet today has vastly changed compared to a decade ago. However, Google Maps’ goal remains the same: to help you navigate and discover new corners of the world. Cheers to Google Street View’s 10th Birthday!

 

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Mount Kinabalu Street View

Let’s take a step back and virtually turn back in time, back to where it all began. Larry kicked off the prototype in 2004 with a team of Googlers who believed and were passionate about the idea of having a 360-degrees world view. Before they knew it, they tossed cameras on vans, added some complicated lasers, hit the roads and walla, the first Street View car was born. A couple of years later, Street View officially hit the roads in a few cities across the U.S. and the first imagery was published in May 2007. Back to reality, today, Google has published imagery on every continent, in 83 countries, and travelled about 10 million miles with the Street View car. That’s what we call a roadtrip!

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Now it was getting easier for the Street View cars to explore the world, but Google was missing out on some of the most beautiful places on Earth: the world that exists beyond just the roads. So Google developed custom vehicles, like the Street View Trekker, to go into places where cars couldn’t go. The Trekker was born to be worn and walked through narrow alleyways or trails, gathering images in the progress.  It has travelled into natural wonders and world heritage sites such as the Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, the Galapagos Islands and even the historic pedestrian paths in Venice. And it’s been used by conservation organizations to observe wildlife, like elephants, chimps, polar bears, and frogs in the Amazon, in their natural habitat. Over the years we’ve put Street View cameras on a snowmobile to bring you closer to the Arctic Eiders, the back of a camel to roam the Arabian desert, and a trolley to give you a better view of renowned works of art.

Now, Google being Google, speed is the essene as we all know it. They had to build their world faster, so in 2013, they enlisted the help of partners through the Trekker Loan Program. Volunteers were hooked up with Street View cameras, that were used to collet 360-degree imagery of the local places that they knew best. Later on, the Street View App came along in 2015 with which, anyone could publish photo spheres (360-degree panoramas) of their favorite places from around the world, or heck, even around the block, to Google Maps in an instant. The list of Street View-compatible 360 cameras were expanded last month so you could document your adventures in high quality imagery.

Checkout some of the beautiful shots screened right from the Google Street View.

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National Park, Pahang

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Pulau Langkawi

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Mulu Cave, Sarawak

Pokdepinion: The world is already a beautiful place. Google made it exciting with a version of their own. It has been a long journey, but I believe this one has been totally worth it!

About The Author
Super Daddy
A proof that the real fun does not actually ends, but rather begins when you become a daddy. Enterprise Application Co-ordinator, Web Developer, Hardware Enthusiast, Gadgets lover, Android Evangelist, Desktop and Consoles Gamer, Metal Music Guitarist, Audiophile, Networking Freak, Radio Controlled Toys rat, Ferrari Crazy and above all - a daddy in every kid's dream.

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