Silicon Valley Watcher has the scoop that Google plans to use trucks quipped with lasers and digital photgraphy equipment to create three dimensional maps of the Earth’s surface, starting with San Francisco.
The trucks would drive along every San Francisco street using the lasers to measure the dimensions of buildings, to create a 3D framework onto which digital photos can be mapped. This would complement the mostly top-down view of San Francisco available through Google’s Keyhole satellite photo application.
There have been several test runs of the specially equipped truck along San Francisco streets. One problem is that vehicles and people can block the automated laser and digital photo systems. This could be eliminated with a second pass, but Google wants to achieve results with a single run.
While the geek in me says “cool”, the rest of me can’t figure out the application for this. The only thing that comes to mind is letting you walk down the streets in a full 3D environment, like a first person shooter. That might be kind of cool. The one thing I hope they are aware of: a mapping service is only as good as its coverage. Just like with A9’s street-level photos, if Google doesn’t have enough areas scanned in, it won’t be very useful. Cool, no doubt, but not useful.
(via John Battelle)
Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.
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