I did not realize this until recently, but Google Earth is now using 3D elevation data from satellites, together with some additional perspective data from airplanes Google is flying low and slow over various parts of Planet Earth, to project 3D perspective images on top of 2D satellite images.
It used to be in Google Earth that everything was 2D only, and in big cities a building owner could build a 3D model of his building. That is not the 3D I am referring to in my paragraph above. Google has found a way to make entire urban neighborhoods look like they are fully three-dimensional, right down to the trees around each building. Take a look at this neighborhood I snapped a screenshot of, while I was "flying" over the neighborhood inside Google Earth. The area closest to the bottom is an area that only has the 2D data, and all of the homes appear flat. The area at the top of the photo uses Google Earth's new 3D data, and every home in the neighborhood gets projected in a full three-dimensional view.
Raise your hand if you find this just a little bit creepy.
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Well I always took for granted that Big Brother had me by the throat no matter what. Now it looks like Little Brother is right there in the running too.
@pone22: Forget the government, the NSA, and all that. Google is Big Brother. 😁 But what's wrong with 3D image data for Google Earth? That's far less creepy than my phone telling me the forecast at home this weekend because it knows I'm going there.
@sarabee1995: I have this weird Deja vu feeling, like this response was here months ago, but it says five hours old. Weeeeiiiiirrrrrddddd....
Moving on, I guess I have to accept the idea that technology is going to take any privacy we have in the vicinity of any property we own, if not now then eventually.
Aside from that, I was admiring Google's technical prowess in taking 2D photos and simulating 3D projections from those. It's a really ambitious thing they have done here.
@pone22: Okay, the really weird thing is that I landed on this story because it showed up in my feed. Today. Is SW trying to tell me I missed a story I should have seen? Weird.
@sarabee1995: 🤔 Currently considering the possibility that we may be trapped in a circular universe and we are reliving the same timeline over and over.... 🤔
