Google has updated its Street View website in what appears to be a bid to quell the disquiet over privacy issues which erupted last year when the company’s StreetView cars were involved in tapping into WiFi networks of homeowners in several countries.The revamped website gives more of an insight into how Street View cars, trikes and snowmobiles are operated in capturing images from around the world as well as highlighting some of the more exotic imagery and history of its ‘pegman’ icon.
A slideshow greets visitors to its homepage, and visitors are also now directed to a gallery of landmark sites, including UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The site also gives a background of the technology used to capture its imagery. Google said: “After several iterations of the car and camera technology, the latest car has 15 lenses taking 360 degrees of photos. It also has motion sensors to track its position, a hard drive to store data, a small computer running the system and lasers to capture 3D data to determine distances within the Street View Trike.
While Street View cars were first introduced in capturing images of five US cities in May 2007, the site has now expanded its 360 degree panoramic views to incude locations on all seven continents.
It now also uses a bicycle baed camera system on a Trike, a snowmobile to explore locations in Whistler and a Trolley system which takes its technology through some of the world’s greatest museums around the world.
