Google Earth create better 3D maps with planes taking photos

Google held a conference on United States maps, delivering a series of interesting facts, plus some ads. The company said it plans to enhance the 3DMaps in Google Earth, using an automated technology to “extract 3D aerial imagery.”

The effect is quite good, and to model each building from ground level to ceiling. Google demonstrated the effect not only on PCs but also on Android and IOS devices, indicating that the new maps will begin to appear “soon” without specifying when or how many cities have this new look.

To create these images, Google uses planes to take pictures at 45 degrees from four different angles, making them fly over the city in a certain way. The software creates models based on these photos, using algorithms to create the shape and color. The process is “fully automatic” without human intervention.

In addition, the company announced Android offline maps , and gave curious numbers, such as the Street View cars have traveled only 8 million kilometers, collecting 20 petabytes of images.