Google is testing a smaller, modular Street View system.

Google Street View is celebrating its 15th anniversary and Mountain View is sharing some new features.

Street View for Google Maps is celebrating its 15th anniversary this week, and Google is taking advantage of the anniversary to share a number of updates, including those related to the hardware it uses. However, the most interesting for users is the ability to go back in time in Street View using Google Maps for Android or iOS. This option has existed on the web for a long time, but now it’s making its first appearance in the mobile apps. And it’s easy to use: just go to Street View, tap anywhere on an image to view location details, and you’ll see the “Show more dates”option.

Google Street View celebrates its 15th anniversary

Obviously, this is only possible for places that Google has not seen several times. In other words, this increase in time will be very different depending on the addresses. Mountain View also explains that how often Street View is scanned depends on many factors, including how often an area changes, how popular it is, and how difficult it is to access. Street View was first launched in San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Miami and Denver. It is logical that these cities have the greatest history.

Those interested in the hardware used by Google to get street view data know that the American giant is announcing major changes to its camera system. The latter, pictured above, has the same capabilities – resolution and processing – as traditional Street View cars, but with a device that weighs just 7kg and is “the size of a house cat”. The company hopes it can more easily map hard-to-reach areas such as the Amazon jungle.

and the Mountain View firm shares several new features

With such a compact Google system, it will be easier to deploy it in more areas. It can be transported anywhere and installed on any type of vehicle. As long as there are roof rails, everything is fine, according to Google. And this new system is modular and customizable.

It will serve as the base system. For example, Google explains that it lacks the LiDAR scanners commonly used in Street View cars that drive around cities, but can be added if needed. This system is currently being tested and should be fully deployed during 2023.

Finally, Google is adding four new collections of Street View images. Pyramids of Meroe in Sudon, Dome in Milan, Les Invalides in Paris and Ferries in Sydney (this will be later). The dome, for example, shows the interior of Italy’s largest cathedral as well as the exterior, and you can take a virtual tour of Paris’ Les Invalides. Check out the Google blog to learn all about it.