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Google Maps Adds Drone Imagery

Posted by timothy on from the hook-'em-horns-but-closer dept.

joshuadugie writes "Slashdot carried a story a while ago that Google had purchased drones for unknown purposes. Google Maps has now added new non-satellite imagery (at UT Austin, for example) when you zoom in close enough. Mystery solved!" I'd like to think that there really are (or were) drones over Austin, but would also like to see Google's explanation for the close-up images.

1 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Re:You don't know if the new images are from drone by MWP-AU · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, yes, sort of... the majority of the higher res images on Google Maps, is taken from light aircraft fitted with specialized camera equipment.
    The imagery is taken most for surveying, council and real-estate uses, not for applications like Google Maps.
    I would bet the Austin imagery is also done this way.

    As an example, http://nearmap.com/ offers quite high res imagery.
    Its mentioned here they the photos are taken with low flying aircraft: http://www.nearmap.com/products/photomap-coverage