Google rolls out image update for Earth and Maps
Google has announced a massive new update to Google Earth that will let people explore San Francisco in the 1930s or Paris in the 1980s.
This update brings historical imagery to the app, a new interface, and new Street View imagery in 80 new countries.
Available on the Google Earth website, the update takes you back in time to about 80 years in some locations, using aerial and historical imagery so users can see how geography, cities and neighborhoods have transformed over the decades.
There are new improved project management tools in Google Earth and a newly redesigned home screen.
Project tools allow teams and research groups to collaborate on projects by making team files easily accessible. Projects are prominently displayed across the home screen.
With the update, Google has brought Street View to a few new countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Namibia, Liechtenstein, and Paraguay.
Street View gives users a close-up look at the people, shops, and geography of almost any location on Earth.
80 new countries have gained extensive Street View coverage, including Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Rwanda, Serbia, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, and Uruguay.
Google says the lightweight, portable Street View cameras help capture images in more places.
Google did not exclude artificial intelligence from updating Google Earth, as Google resorted to artificial intelligence to update a group of its images for both Street View and Google Earth, which increased their clarity.
The search giant also used artificial intelligence to remove cloud cover and fog from over some parts of the Earth, giving users a better view.
The company relied on the Cloud Score+ artificial intelligence model, which can recognize and remove clouds, cloud shadows, and fog without removing ice, snow, mountain shadows, and other real-world weather patterns.
The company explained that historical images and updates are available through the Google Earth application for mobile devices and the web version, a feature that was previously available only through the Google Earth Pro desktop application, which makes it easier to compare satellite and aerial images of a location over the years.