Google Maps Street View turns into time machine; taking you to the past through new time travel feature

(Credit: Google Maps)Onagawa, Japan after the 2011 earthquake.

Going back in time with Street View, a feature in Google Maps, makes reminiscing the past visual. You will see how places have changed throughout the years by exploring the imagery in Street View in the desktop version of Google Maps.

Google has collected a pretty deal of information from the past, stretching back as far as 2007, to create its digital time capsule. In time travel, Street View presents images from various periods so one can see the changes that has taken place over time.

Google Street View's Product Manager, Vinay Shet, said that from now on we can travel to the past by exploring Google Maps's imagery, as Street View has gathered a history of collections.

The time travel feature gives users a new Street View experience. For instance, if you go back to 2008, you may witness the U.S. Defense Department banning Street View cars as a safety measure. The photography was seen by authorities to be associated with terrorism.

In the same year, the London Metropolitan Police launched a campaign that warned citizens to be watchful of "odd" photographers. Google also started testing blurring people's faces in images.

In 2009, Google scrambled to correct sensationalistic claims. Street View cars were reported to shoot images of a naked toddler, and Google wondered why they were banned by Buckinghamshire village residents in the UK.

During the same year, Switzerland and Greece briefly banned Street View cars until Google reassured authorities of privacy protections. In Japan, Street View has to re-shoot some images, since roof-mounted cameras on cars could capture people's backyards.

As time has gone by, many controversies has begun to subside, as Google is settling privacy litigations in the Street View service.

In many places, people have grown tired of contesting privacy rights that governments already ignore, while at the same time telling others to observe them. One by one, people have overcome initial fears and realized the usefulness of Street View.

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