Slashdot Mirror
Google Sets Sights On 3D Map of the Oceans
Several readers wrote to tell us about one of the next major projects to enter the Google-verse. We already have pretty views of the Earth and the Sky, the next target is apparently a 3D map of the oceans. "The tool — for now called Google Ocean, the sources say, though that name could change — is expected to be similar to other 3D online mapping applications. People will be able to see the underwater topography, called bathymetry; search for particular spots or attractions; and navigate through the digital environment by zooming and panning. (The tool, however, is not to be confused with the 'Google Ocean' project by France-based Magic Instinct Software that uses Google Earth as a visualization tool for marine data.)"
Does this have anything to do with their under water fortress of doom?
Google needs to work getting images and map data up to date in Earth / maps right now.
Quantity, not quality
Tell me about it.
I bet one or two photos would update the whole town, too.
I'm guessing they don't want to put a huge budget toward something as trivial as this. In place of a normal map, it'll just be a huge blue square with a few random images of fish. "This is the Atlantic Ocean. Oh look, there's a barracuda."
Cthulhu's watery resting place.
Hmmmm, just think: With Greenland and Antarctica melting, Google Ocean will eventually get bigger as Google Earth shrinks a bit around the edges.
We have better understanding of far away stars etc than we do of our own oceans, yet the oceans are far more important to our existence. Hat's off to Google!
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Now they are just inventing silly things to do. I am convinced that the "break rooms" are crack dens.
when it comes to maps, MS seem to have the cash to purchase better imaging. http://maps.live.com/ has a worse interface but the data is so
Google maps was the best (better than MS virtualearth) when it was first released
but now its starting to show its age with its images
Why would anyone waste their time navigating a 3D image of the ocean ? ... just curious...
Google continues to crank out new services, products, APIs, tools, and more. It's really quite staggering, but they do have the cash and brains to do it. But the investments they make are huge. I'm talking about money, time and brainpower.
Is latest action to make the entire world's information accessible for cash in some way? Is it some sort of philanthropy? You know, another gift to the world? Or, is there some other plan for world domination?
Speaking of world domination...
Who will be the most angry about all of this?
* Aquaman
* Poseidon
* Neptune
* Little Mermaid
* The Mariner (Kevin Costner, Waterworld)
How to Download YouTube Videos
Davy Jones, the ambassador for marine life, is citing privacy concerns and plans to protest this activity.
I say, if they don't have anything to hide, they have nothing to be afraid of.
what is there that warrents a map of the ocean other than oil? http://www.programers.co.nr/
-- (this is a sig) My Computer Programming Forumhttp://www.programers.co.nr/
Survey Point 1, Sea Level ..... 0 Meters
Survey Point 2, Sea Level ..... 0 Meters
Survey Point 3, Sea Level ..... 0 Meters
Survey Point 4, Sea Level ..... 0 Meters
Survey Point 5, Sea level ..... 0.2 Meters (note: shark)
Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!
There is no Atlantis, folks.
Aside for fun and searching the Titanic and the Atlantis, what's the use of it? I mean, it's not that we will able to find the nearest Starbucks or get directions underwater. Why not use that cash to improve the streets and imagery on the earth part?
I'm always amazed at Google's ability to hire an insane number of talented engineers and do almost nothing worthwhile with them. Outside of advertising the company has absolutely no direction.
They updated the maps of my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago. I can actually see the trees that were planted a couple of years ago in my yard now.
We all live in a google submarine
google submarine, google submarine
We all live in a google subarmine
google submarine, google submarine
As we live a life of ease (A life of ease)
Everyone of us (Everyone of us) has all we need (Has all we need)
Sky of blue (Sky of blue) and sea of green (Sea of green)
In our google (In our google) submarine (Submarine, ha, ha)
We'll find Davey Jones' Locker yet with this and all be rich! RICH I say!
Or, failing that, we can search for submarines lurking under the waves.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
...otherwise compared to keeping up with the RT 3d ocean surface, slashdotting a data server would be a drop in the ocean. literally.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
Instead of the Google Truck, there'd be a Google submarine taking pictures and some sort of slimy fish would probably sue them for taking pictures of it's backreef.
I'm looking forward to Google Oceans. Sounds interesting.
-- Put crudely, the world is an extremely large problem instance. (Russel/Norvig Artificial Intelligence)
The thing is, neogeography *is* useful and efficient for many tasks. Not everybody needs "a real" powerful GIS to visualize and analyse geodata. That's why I can believe this rumored Google Ocean will be attractive to many oceanography scientists (as well to hobbyists, of course). See this recent article named "Google Earth, GIS, and the Great Divide: A new and simple method for sharing paleontological data"
Animoog.org
Hmm.. I wonder if they'll be using the Smith & Sandwell satellite derived bathymetry or ship-track data....
Anything better than 5 degree per pixel would be scientifically useful.. but I doubt that they'll have very high definition coverage... and I also doubt they'll be filling in the huge holes in the ship-track coverage.
The surface of Mars has been mapped in higher detail than the depths of the ocean and we are still guessing at the numbers of sea-mounts in the Pacific.
Agrajag: "Oh no, not again!"
I'd like to know their update policy. I bought a house over a year ago. At the time Google Maps showed the land as being just a field, even though it had had streets on it for a while. A few months ago they updated the satellite image but only to the time when the roads were being excavated but before they were paved. However, Street View shows my house after I moved in. I can't figure it out.
Stop Global Warming!
Just say no to irreversible processes!
Well, in The Hunt for Red October the Soviet Union had accurate charts and the US Navy didn't. I'd imagine the Soviet Navy might be upset that all the US has to do now is google Red Route One.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
I hope that they will be able to offer satellite and 3D imagery of the gigantic plastic-trash gyre north of Hawaii. And anyway, aren't there other trash gyres in the oceans? Will they be able to provide real-time ocean vehicle tracking? Science buoys? Locations of marine accidents? The nearest pizza delivery to your port-of-call? Hurricane tracking? Atlantis? . Klek -- .Sig, munde, froid.
Google's business plan: 1. Hire talented people to work on interesting projects 2. Offer free, useful tools to users to get them to your site 3. Show the users advertisements 4. Make a ton of money and still look like a good guy It seems to be working.
There are many uses for such a service. Here's just a few off the top of my head:
-Under-water cable management
-Shipwreck locator
-Points of interest for study (black smokers, volcanoes, rifts)
-Biologic tracking data (in 3D)
-Current tracking data (in 3D)
-The aforementioned oil industry uses
I'm guessing Google would release a lo-rez free version to the general public and then license a high-rez version to corporations (and government) like it does with Google Earth. I didn't really RTFA--you don't really have to with a title like that--so I apologize if any of this was mentioned there. It just seemed like there were a lot of "What is this good for?" posts. I, for one, am looking forward to such a service.
Cheers~
There is simply too much glass..
I don't think it's a waste of money at all- I think it's a great idea. It just doesn't have as much immediate use to the average internet user.
I mean, maybe we can't use this map to get driving directions or whatever, but what if marine biologists create mash-ups that show migration patterns for marine life or something? That would be worthwhile.
Will they be adding a submarine simulator?
My rights don't need management.
in just 5 or so years google will start mapping our butts.
Read radical news here
Hmm... well while that is interesting (or not) for the masses, I am very excited about that.
... that is why I am really stoked about this and wonder what resolution and what regions will be available.
As a diver (recreational) I am really curious if this will cover only deep oceans or maybe even close to shore locations. While there are enough dive places in Costa Rica (where I live) to dive every weekend on a different place, you quickly realize that a certain dive shop is usually limited to 10-12 sites tops. That makes you think of hiring the fisherman, getting on the friend's boat with a GPS and starting to do beach dives. Anyway even with a bunch of GPS coordinates in my old Garmin you might just hit empty sand pads, endless depths and other surprises. Besides that, beach dives without a coast guard are a nightmare here. Most beaches are surfing only (meaning DO NOT SWIM THERE OR YOU DIE).
Anyway
Any divers with any thoughts on that?
Hat's off to Google == Hat is off to Google == [My] hat is off to Google.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
one could make huge money with such a butt that can handle a truck
Read radical news here
I'm still amazed sometimes how the google guys map the surface of a more or less flat thing like our world onto a ball. It confused me at first, but then I realized how smart that was. Instead of scrolling from east to west and the whole way back I can just turn the ball across the western border and be instantly there. I have been told that also most pilots also assume our world to be a ball when doing navigation as it supposed to make math easier.
ok, So don't get Google Ocean confused with "Google Ocean" ...
check
AFAIK, high-resolution bathymetry is considered some of the most highly classified data the US Navy has. Many people and organizations over the years have tried to access that data and been told that it is protected due to unspecified national security concerns.
OTOH, the kind of data that is easily available with Google Earth was once the exclusive domain of agencies such as NRO...
first? Still a bunch of highish then low res patches..
Hey, look! I just made a fish in Google Sketchup. It looks just like a two-level house.
-- Marcio
But I am more concerned about them pulling into my underwater driveway and photographing my underwater house.
Or...2010, breaking news: Google periscope spotted in homeowner's toilet taking pictures of "uncharted territory."