Street View Now on Google Maps
Google has introduced Street View in collaboration with Genesys International and Tech Mahindra. The functionality is now available on Google Maps covering over 150,000 km in 10 cities, namely, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik, Vadodara, Ahmednagar, and Amritsar. 50 more cities will be added to the list by the end of this year.
It is revealed that it’s the first time Google has partnered with third parties for Street View. This comes after Street View had to be discontinued back in 2011 due to security concerns. However, India’s recent geospatial policy has helped sort this out.
Miriam Karthika Daniel, VP – Google Maps Experiences (via TechCrunch), said, “The geospatial policy allows local entities to do the data collection at a certain level of fidelity. So, our partners here, configure the cameras, and they go into the data collection. They own the data that they collect, but then they license it to entities like Google, so we can actually integrate it and offer services like Google Maps.“
To access the Street View mode, you can simply search for a place and tap it to get the Street View thumbnail at the bottom. Select it to see the 360-degree and accurate view of a selected place. This can be done both via Google Maps on phones and on a PC. Google will also make Street View APIs available for third-party developers.
The Maps app will also show speed limit data to people shared by traffic authorities and this will start first in Bengaluru. Google has partnered with the Bengaluru traffic police to come up with solutions to show models that better optimize traffic light timings.
Furthermore, it is revealed that Google’s Environmental Insights Explorer tool is now being used by Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, and Aurangabad to analyze transport emissions data to design Climate Action Plans.
