Google Street View Becomes 15 Years Old With new app features and tools

Back in 2007, Street View started as an ambitious idea to document the world as it had never been documented before, capturing photos of streets and locations in 360-degrees. Fast forward 15 years and that same idea have gone on to capture over 220 billion images across 100 countries and territories. For its 15-year anniversary, Google is celebrating by unlocking its historical images for mobile apps and debuting a brand new camera.

Street View can now show you the world as it appeared in the past

On iOS and Android, Street View will now be able to show you the world as it appeared in the past. When viewing Street View, users will be able to tap on the photo and see information about its locations, and then tap the “see more dates” option to unlock historical images that have been captured since 2007. This will allow users to stroll down memory lane in their neighborhood or check out the evolution of places they have never been to.

Street View wouldn’t be possible without cameras to document locations. Joining its Street View car camera and Google Trekker backpack, Google is announcing a new camera that will roll out sometime in 2023. The camera will take what is traditionally found on its cars, and bring it in a more compact format that weighs in at less than 15 pounds. The benefit of this is the first is that it is lighter and easier to use, and the second is that it can be shipped anywhere in the world, allowing pictures to be taken of even the most remote areas. Since the camera is smaller, it can also be attached to any vehicle with a roof rack. The new camera will also shed its required specialized computer companion and the new model will instead be able to be controlled from a mobile device.

The new camera will also be customizable, allowing for more versatility when compared to the previous model. Although Google doesn’t go in-depth, it does state that modular components can be added to the camera for future enhancements. For example, a LiDAR attachment could be added to create enhanced data for roads. Google states that the new camera will also allow the company to “explore more sustainable solutions” for the future.

Source: Google