The Google I/O event has seen a lot of interesting releases and announcements, and one of these if the first public build of Google Earth’s 3D flyover features. The 3D mapping feature is now out for Android’s version of Google Earth, and will soon make its way to iOS as well. This update comes around a time when Apple has rather recently announced it is also working on its own Apple Maps system and 3D map structure, so it’s not surprising that Google released something to beat them to the punch. From the sounds of it, we should have the iOS update to Google Earth long before Apple’s own map system arrives.

Check out the video below to get a bit more information about the 3D building features coming to Google Earth.

[ source ]

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The lost city of Atlantis disappears again and who else could trigger the vanishing act in the 21st century other than Google!

The internet giant, in a drive to clean up, or rather upgrade, its ocean mapping system, has removed from Google Earth the image which was believed to be that of the lost city of Atlantis.

The image was discovered in 2009, giving the Atlantis hunters a ray of hope that it could be the remains of the ancient city as it lay in an area that was believed to be where the original city was located.

The image in question here was recorded in an area off the coast of Morocco called the Madeira Abyssal Plane.  It shows a grid system on the ocean floor, indicating possible city blocks according to believers, but the ever-skeptic Google had always maintained that it was caused by an error in its ship’s sound imaging instruments that was used to map the ocean floor.

What is evident is that the latest disappearance of Atlantis is an attempt by Google to improve the quality of Google Earth’s underwater imaging, a joint effort by the internet giants with Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Navy.

Scripps geophysicist David Sandwell was quoted by the institute’s website last week that “UCSD undergraduate students spent the past three years identifying and correcting the blunders as well as adding all the multi-beam echosounder data archived at the National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, Colorado”.

The update coincides with the third anniversary of the launch of Google Earth’s 3D ocean. According to Google, 15 percent of the ocean floor (from an earlier 10 percent) is now visible at a resolution of 1km after the changes. Google Earth’s oceanic maps are now on par with the ones used by researchers.

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The 3D creating backpack has 4 lasers and cameras which map the interior as the wearer walks

At UC Berkeley, the same team behind 3D views of major cities on Google Earth has created a mapping technology “that scans its surroundings and creates an instant 3D model”. The device takes the form of a backpack, where an array of lasers, cameras, and an Inertial Measurement Unit all combine to form a final product of a 3D, textured model. Lasers calculate geometry of the surroundings, while the cameras capture panoramic textures of the area behind the pack. Although Google Earth’s 3D images were created using GPS technology, the same cannot be said for the 3D Backpack. Since GPS and satellite imagery does not work indoors, the IMU combined with the geometry of lasers, localize the pack, allowing for the precise navigation of an indoor environment.

Professor Avideh Zakhor, who leads the team at Cal Berkeley says, “One day, you’ll have a little pack of sensors on your belt. And, as you walk inside buildings, you collect data about everything. Every location in the universe, both indoors and outdoors will eventually be mapped and we’ll have it all online. So, without ever going anywhere, you can see what everybody’s interior looks like.” Good or bad,  an indoor 3D model would trump having to read those confusing mall maps.

Innovative and cutting-edge, the team at Cal Berkeley is trailblazing into the 3D era.

Laser backpack creates instant 3D models [KGO-TV San Francisco]
Laser backpack creates instant 3D maps, Venkman reminds you to not cross the streams (video) [engadget]
Automated, 3D Modeling of Building Interiors [UC Berkeley]

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There is a new app to add in the already intensive library of Google code for your Android phone. You can use it for everything from Gmail to Google Maps, and now you get to have a global view too thanks to the new Google Earth Mobile app for Android.

Developed to work with Android 2.1, the “fastest mobile version of Google Earth” is now available for download through the Google Marketplace. The Android edition of Google Earth will support a screen resolution of up to 800×480 pixels and a “smooth” frame rate.

Inside the app, you’ll find a roads layer that can be placed over top the digital satellite image. There’s also voice recognition to help you find your points of interest, whether they be specific locations or more general search terms. You can still browse through local businesses too.

The good news is that the new Google Earth app for Android is perfectly happy working on the Nexus One. The bad news is that it is not yet ready for the Motorola Droid, so you’ll have to wait for Moto to roll out Android 2.1 update for that phone first.

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