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05/01/2014 04:27:06 PM · #1 |
I have searched for the answer to this question for a while. The level of detail on google maps is pretty remarkable, when you consider the sheer size of the planet. Complicated features, such as irregular shapes of land masses and bodies of water, are rendered in quite a high level of detail (down to a couple meters). Not to mention the countless roads...just look at all the hundreds of thousands tiny glacial lakes up in Canada. When you flick between the satellite view and the map view, they're all drawn quite correctly.
So, considering that these maps are vector illustrations, exactly how were they drawn? Did a team of humans divide up the map, and just work away on outlining satellite imagery by hand? Or did google develop some sort of automatic tracing software? Did they base the imagery off the satellite photos, or pre-existing maps that were scanned in somehow? Unless the process was automated, I couldn't imagine the process of drawing google maps taking any less than thousands upon thousands of man-hours. |
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05/01/2014 04:31:04 PM · #2 |
| well im at work, so i cant really listen to this, but this video seems like it might hold some answers. |
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05/01/2014 06:52:10 PM · #3 |
| i know the 3d buildings is a crowd sourced effort. |
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05/01/2014 07:44:54 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by Mike:
i know the 3d buildings is a crowd sourced effort. |
While that used to be true, I don't know if it is any longer.
Pull up Farmington New Mexico, and then take a look at the trees in the bosque near the river along the southern bluffs. On the mesa above the trees appear as 3-d rocks. I don't think that was done by hand. |
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05/01/2014 07:51:46 PM · #5 |
| im sure not all. i only know because i used to partake a while back, but it does seem like the 3d buildings are getting the street view mapping on their faces as opposed to just the simple vertical extruding of the aerial that used to be done. |
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05/01/2014 08:21:40 PM · #6 |
Most of those features are already mapped by governments...
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05/02/2014 04:02:10 AM · #7 |
| Hope we find the answer soon. |
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