Sadly, Amazon dropped this feature last year.

Unlike the aerial views shown by other mapping sites, it took you to street level, linking map addresses to photographs of the actual streets and buildings in 22 major U.S. There’s a virtual tour available of Les Invalides in Paris, and the Sydney Ferries in Australia will come later this year along with its own virtual tour.One of my favorite features of ’s A9 search engine was its ability to display maps with block view images. The Pyramids of Meroë show off new panoramic imagery of the ancient pyramids, whereas the Duomo shows off the inside and exterior of the largest cathedral in Italy. So users can check out the inside of buildings as if they were walking around IRL.Īdditionally, Google is adding four new collections of places like the Pyramids of Meroë in Sudan, The Duomo in Milan, Les Invalides in Paris and the Sydney Ferries in Australia. Launching later this year is the already announced immersive view, which combines billions of Street View and aerial images to create a digital model of places around the globe. The Street View imagery also powers Live View, a feature where you can use your phone’s camera to see arrows, directions and distance markers placed right on top of the real world. According to Google, the new camera will be seen in “fun Google colors” alongside Street View cars and trekkers next year. Street View imagery is used to improve Google Maps, whether that’s adding newly opened businesses or improving information such as speed limits and business opening hours. Having these cameras roam the streets helps Google improve its Google Maps data. For instance, there aren’t any lidar sensors built-in (laser scanners typically found in Street View cars that operate in cities), so they can be added when required, especially when it’s necessary to collect important and helpful imagery like lane markings or potholes.

Plus, instead of creating completely new camera systems to capture certain areas like Google used to do, the new camera is customizable.

Google maps 2008 street view