Skip to main content

Google launches behind-the-scenes site for Street View collections

google launches behind the scenes site for street view collections
Image used with permission by copyright holder

In the last couple of years especially, Google has increasingly taken its Street View cameras off road to explore more remote and less accessible locations. This year alone has seen it clinging to the side of the tallest building in the world in Dubai, taking in views from atop the Eiffel Tower, trekking through the beautiful Grand Canyon, and taking a peek at the posh bits of the world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380.

To complement this material, the Mountain View company on Tuesday launched a behind-the-scenes site offering interested users a bundle of extra information about the shoots, including photos, videos, audio tours and accounts of how the imagery was gathered by those who did the work.

To access the new content, visit Street View’s Special Collections page and click on the ‘go behind the views’ icon in the top right corner (direct link here).

Multimedia adventures

“Our first two multimedia adventures enable you to experience the Canadian Arctic in Iqaluit, Canada, and the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE,” Street View program manager Deanna Yick says in a post introducing the new material.

“We also invite you to enjoy photos and videos from our past journeys to the Grand Canyon, the base camp of Mount Everest, the Amazon Basin, the Great Barrier Reef and the NASA Kennedy Space Center – minus the extreme temperatures and long plane rides!”

Google promised more Street View material is on the way from the narrow streets, alleys, and waterways of Venice, as well as of the natural beauty of the Galapagos Islands with its extraordinary abundance of unique wildlife.

While Street View has always been a fun and often very useful feature for exploring locations near and far, Google’s push in recent times to offer more information to go with its imagery has served to create a more rounded and enjoyable experience for those taking the time to seek it out.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How to enable picture-in-picture for YouTube on your Mac
Macbook Air

If you want to have a bit of music playing in the background or want to have your favorite YouTube video running in the corner of your screen, then the picture-in-picture YouTube feature needs to be on your radar. This allows you to turn your YouTube videos into a tiny pop-up window that can be moved and repositioned around your screen.

Mac users have several ways to activate the feature, including support on both Safari and Google Chrome. There's also a nifty Chrome extension that simplifies the task to a single button press. Here's a look at how to enable picture-in-picture for YouTube on your Mac.

Read more
How to change your Gmail password
pilot testing drivers licenses internet rolls two us states password

Changing your Gmail password is incredibly important for your online security. If you're anything like the average user, your Gmail account is linked to dozens of other organizations and programs – and if your account gets hacked, there's no telling what sort of damage can be done.

Because of this, it's crucial to change your Gmail password at regular intervals. Google makes this a rather painless process, and it should take no more than a few seconds from start to finish.

Read more
Best Buy deals: Save on laptops, TVs, appliances, and more
best buy shuts down insignia line smart home products store 2 768x768

Best Buy is always a great retailer to turn to if you’re looking for some savings. There are almost always Best Buy deals taking place on TVs, appliances, and devices we use to navigate the digital world. In fact, right now at Best Buy you can find some of the best TV deals, best laptop deals, and best phone deals that can be shopped, and we haven’t even mentioned the deals on tablets and home audio equipment currently taking place at Best Buy. We’ve rounded up all of the best Best Buy deals you can shop right now and categorized them for your convenience below, so read onward for some great opportunities to save.
Best Buy TV deals

There may be no better place to purchase one of the best TVs than Best Buy. There is almost always some huge savings to find on TVs at Best Buy, and that’s certainly the case right now. You’ll find deals top TV brands like Sony, Samsung, and LG, and more budget-friendly brands like TCL and Hisense are in play, too.

Read more