During the past 15 years, Google Maps has undergone a gradual progression and the company continues to boost the maps' accuracy. Now Google has introduced a new change which uses more precise color coding to accurately display a terrain. Google Maps used a general color scheme previously for an area based on the type of landscape and the vegetation around it.
The new visual improvements add more detail and granularity to the map, the company says this will make it easier to understand what an place looks like when digitally exploring or planning a trip.
Google Maps provides satellite imagery in high quality for more than 98 per cent of the world 's population. They intend to transform this picture into a more detailed, vivid map of an area at a global level using a modern color-mapping algorithmic methodology. The maps will show natural features such as arid beaches, deserts, blue lakes , rivers, oceans and ravines, all in different colors, with the new update. The company claims that the user can see at a glance how lush and green a place is with vegetation, and even see if there are snow caps on the mountaintop peaks.
Google Maps is accessible in over 100 million square kilometres of ground, or 18 billion football fields, in 220 countries and territories. No matter what region you are looking at, this update is visible—from the largest metropolitan areas to remote, rural towns.
So how does this new feature work? Google uses computer vision to identify satellite imagery natural features, specifically looking at arid, icy, forested and mountain areas. Then they analyze these features and assign them to the HSV color model a range of colours. A heavily grown forest, for example, can be labeled as dark green whereas an area of patchy shrubs may appear as a lighter green hue.
Other than color mapping, users will be able to see highly detailed information on the street which shows the exact shape and width of a road to scale. You can also see precisely where sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrian islands are located — essential information if you have accessibility requirements, such as wheelchair or stroller.
Such information are expected to be more beneficial as people opt for walking or other modes of solo transportation because of the pandemic.
Google says they'll begin rolling out the interactive street maps in London , New York, and San Francisco in the following months, with hopes to extend in time to more cities.
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