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Google closes in on London's landmarks using your pictures
Mark Prigg, Science and Technology Editor29 Jul 2009
If you have ever wondered what the hands of Big Ben look like, or wanted to see exactly what is on the dome of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, Google has the answer.
The search firm today updated its Street View service with a new "superzoom" for hundreds of London's best-known landmarks, allowing users to see them in unprecedented detail.
For instance, by zooming in on the face of Big Ben it is possible to see the joints on the gold piping used to create the patterned clock face. In Trafalgar Square, users can zoom right into the dome of the National Gallery to see the ornate leaf ironwork on its dome. Previously Google was limited to using pictures from its Street View cars and their roof-mounted 360 degree cameras.
However, the new system allows high quality digital pictures taken by the public to be integrated into the site. Users simply double click on an area to zoom in, and the high resolution picture is automatically shown at exactly the right size and angle.
"We wanted to let people see places in more detail, so we have integrated people's photos into Street View," said Laura Scott of Google. "We already have hundreds of pictures all over the capital, and people can also upload their own to the site."
The pictures are created using software from Panoramio, a firm Google bought in 2007.
