Google Street View turns 15, launches new car camera

Fifteen years ago, Google Street View began as a unique idea from Google co-founder Larry Page to build a 360-degree map of the entire world. Fast forward to today and there are now over 220 billion Google Street View images from over 100 countries worldwide.

The addition of relatively recent images of streets and locations we visit regularly has revolutionised the way we interact and use street maps.

Over the years, Google has sent out a fleet of brightly coloured cars with a large 360-degree camera on the roof to drive every main street, road, avenue and boulevard. In 2022, they unveiled their latest camera which they say takes all the power, resolution and processing capabilities of an entire Street View car and shrinks it down into an ultra-transportable camera that’s the size of a small dog or cat.

The new camera, which looks like a character from Toy Story, weighs just under 7kg and can be fitted to any vehicle with a roof rack and operated right a mobile device, so no need for a specialised car or processing equipment anymore. Google says that this new flexibility makes it easier for them to use a more sustainable fleet of cars like plug-in hybrids or EVs.

Google Street View was first available in Australian locations in August 2008, and the long-anticipated image collection of Australia was introduced. In 2009 Google Australia announced that it would be sending its fleet of cars back on the road from November to update Street View with new images.

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