3-D mapping coming to your phone and tablet

[amirm]

Great new development. Will make it easier to figure out what your destination and path looks like. Rumor is that Apple is also bringing the same to their platforms. I suspect cars will tap into this in the next few years for their navigation system.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57...full-3d-google-earth-feature/?tag=epicStories

Google unveiled a full 3D version of Google Earth today.

The service allows users to move around, rotate, and interact with 3D images of cities. Google said it expects the service to work for a few major cities for Android and iOS in the coming weeks.

"We're trying to create magic here," said Peter Birch, product manager for Google Earth. "It creates the illusion you're flying over the city.

The service is expected to cover the location of 300 million people by the end of the year, Birch said. The ultimate goal is to get it everywhere.

Google is using advanced 3D rendering technology to create the images. The company did a demonstration of the feature in San Francisco, moving around the city and getting full images on the Android tablet.

Google is investing in planes to take shots of the city, and using automated technology to extract 3D images from the aerial shots. Birch said the company has been working on it for years, but the quality of the images on Google Earth wasn't high enough until now.

The technology is different than the patchwork of images and renderings currently used, which Birch said isn't as accurate or visually pleasing.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Cool, but will it help me find the closest Thai restaurant any better?

Tim

 

[amirm]

It would if it is a hole in a wall between a bunch of other tall buildings .

Reminds me of trying to find an Indian restaurant of all places in Tokyo. We had the address but even the Taxi driver could not find it because they buildings there are numbered in the order of construction and not location on the street! We went to a department store who called them to find them. They were literally next door to them! But on six floor. This why 3-D mapping has been available in Japan for years. Without the orientation of tall building is next to or across the place you want to find you can't find anything! When I give direction to Taxi drivers there I always have to say it is near XYZ train station. Otherwise, they can't even find famous hotels!

 

[NorthStar]

---3D mapping; Trinnov Optimizer?

 

[amirm]

Different mapping Bob .

 

[NorthStar]

-----I know I know.

* By the way, Samsung has some real cool new phones and tablets too,
with some quite neat gadgets (features). :b ...And very inexpensive too ($159 for the phones).

 

[treitz3]

That is just too cool, Amir! My wife travels a lot and I'm sure that she would be using this when it becomes available. I wouldn't think Washington DC would have too much detail, though. Unless they had military planes provide the 3-D images.

 

[amirm]

Knowing Google, they probably hacked into the Pentagon's wifi network and sniffed the pictures that way.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Reminds me of trying to find an Indian restaurant of all places in Tokyo.

I work with a bunch of Englishmen who swear some of the best food on the planet comes from the Indian restaurants in London.

Tim