Mountain View, California — Global search engine leader Google over the weekend announced via micro-blogging site Twitter that it has revamped its panoramic Street View website, a nifty little place on the Web that allows viewers to take a peek at what is going on in the world through 360-degree street-level imagery, which now includes high-quality footage from ski slopes, UNESCO World Heritage sites, restaurants, and scenic attractions around the world.
Now endowed with images of cities, towns and landmarks around seven continents, Street View can certainly claim to have come a long way since it first launched in May of 2007.
The revamp includes a walkthrough so that users can better understand what the service is and how to use it, how some of the program’s more exotic imagery, detail exactly where Street View imagery is available and even give insights behind the story of the mysterious “pegman” and, most importantly, a privacy tab for those who are completely paranoid.
“Since Street View first introduced in Google Maps, it has expanded beyond five U.S. cities to locations on all seven continents, and we have been able to explore some beautiful and historic places around the globe. To share some of our favorite imagery with you, and also give you a behind-the-scenes look at Street View technology, we have updated our Street View site,” Google announced in a blog post.
Also, for those who wish to experiment travel from home, models of the vehicles Google has developed for collecting imagery, such as the trike, snowmobile and trolley, are also available in 3D.
If you are curious in having a browse of the new locations on offer, be sure to head on over to the Street View website now and give it a whirl.
“People often inquire when an imagery for their city will be updated, and now we get a nice glimpse at the answer. Beyond that, you can learn the details of how the imagery from cars gets converted to Street View or check out their gallery of locations, which includes some amazing views,” writes the Google Earth blog.
The refurbished home page is clean and simple, visitors are now greeted with a slide-show of some of the more high-profile destinations captured by the Street View team from around the globe. Images include shots of England’s Stonehenge, South Africa’s Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and Japan’s Kumamoto Castle. There is also a “7 Continents of Street View” link which showcases a greater of variety of attractions around the world (yes, Street View has visited Antarctica apparently).
Moreover, the site also now incorporates information about some of the operations behind the project. First up is a “learn” tab that includes a brief tutorial of how to properly use street view and a story behind “Pegman,” the little orange man you drag around to view different places on the map.
Initially, the site was originally introduced with only a handful of major cities in 2007 but now covers most of North America, Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe and limited available in Japan, Indonesia and Brazil.
Also new is a very cool map apart from the expanded image gallery that shows exactly where street view imagery is available throughout the world. Besides, Google has added a new layer of transparency to Street View’s controversial practices with a explanation of how the images were collected and privacy ensured.
Nevertheless, Google has already updated the U.S. Street View site and will continue rolling it out in more countries in the next few months, the company said in the blog post.
It is well worth a visit if you have an hour to kill or if you are in need of some travel inspiration. In the gallery section of the site, Google has arranged images by different categories including UNESCO World Heritage Sites, South African soccer stadiums and U.S landmarks.
To start exploring, jump here.