Google Earth’s Incredible 3D Imagery, Explained
Nat and Friends2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2017–2022
explainer · general · evergreen · 2017–2022 on HN
A short explainer from Nat and Friends on where Google Earth's 3D imagery comes from, how it is stitched together, and how often it is updated. It describes aircraft carrying camera rigs and photogrammetry that turns the photos into 3D models.
People link it as the quick answer to how Google builds 3D maps, and as evidence that planes are still used to capture the imagery.
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3 comments from Hacker News
I have been spending some time on the Virtual Reality version of Google Earth, and it is amazing to see the world in 3D from inside. Here there is a video on how Google creates the 3D for Google Earth: ▶ this video I hope to see more of this technologies as it is great to visit places without leaving home.
They fly their own planes these days. link Too bad it's a video. Fast forward about 2 minutes. Or: ▶ this video Fly plane. Zig zag. 5 cameras, then photogrammetry. StreetView, from planes.
Hmm, I'm curious about your first claim! I can't find anything more recent than ~2017[0], but they were still using Airplanes to gather imagery for the 3D maps. I'm pretty sure this is still the case, as urban area resolution is way higher than available non military satellite imagery. 0: ▶ this video