New Google Street View feature gives glimpses of the past

Life

Google Maps is giving users the chance to see things as they were. Image: Google

Google is giving users something of a time machine in a new feature on Maps.

The company is adding past images of places noted in Street View for the desktop version of Google Maps. The goal is to give users the ability to see how places have changed over time.

“We’ve gathered historical imagery from past Street View collections dating back to 2007 to create this digital time capsule of the world,” wrote Vinay Shet, Google’s Street View product manager, in a blog post. “Now with Street View, you can see a landmark’s growth from the ground up, like the Freedom Tower in New York City or the 2014 World Cup Stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil.”

With Google’s new time machine-like feature in Maps, users can follow the construction of the Freedom Tower in New York City (pictured).

Google also says the new feature can serve as a digital timeline of recent history, enabling users to follow the reconstruction underway in Japan after the devastating tsunami and earthquake in 2011.

Users also can use the new feature to see what cities would look like in different seasons.

The feature is gradually being rolled out. Users will know if the feature is available if they see a clock icon in the upper left-hand portion of a Street View image. They can click on it and move the slider through time and select a thumbnail to see that same place in previous years or seasons, Shet said.

Computerworld

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