The official blog for Google Maps
Matt Harding: Around the World, one dance at a time with Google Maps
April 29, 2013
Today is
International Dance Day
, a celebration of a universal art form that spans cultures and countries. But dancing isn’t just limited to holidays. Since 2003,
Matt Harding
has famously been dancing his way across the globe with people from all walks of life and sharing to millions on his
YouTube channel
. His mission is simple: Dance. Dance with everyone. Dance everywhere. Dance to spread joy.
Matt’s journey began with a serendipitous,
single dance step
in Hanoi. While traveling through Southeast Asia, his friend encouraged him to dance for the camera—and he just kept dancing. At first, he was amused by the idea of capturing himself dancing in front of famous landmarks and in famous cities around the world. Since then, Matt’s videos have evolved beyond a single man dancing; his videos now focus on individuals that gather together to share in the fun of dance, as you can see in his
2012 YouTube film
.
The joy that goes into Matt’s work is apparent—and well documented. However, there’s also a fair amount of planning involved to choreograph his efforts. Matt relies on
Google Maps
for comprehensive, accurate and useful tools to execute and track his steps.
Before he sets off on each adventure, Matt uses Google Maps to scout various locations. Using
Street View
and photos in Google Maps, he finds landmarks and points of interest around the globe that are prefect dance spots. For instance, he came across Piazza del Popolo while exploring Rome with Street View. These tools come in handy to help Matt choose a backdrop to highlight his assembly of exuberant, local dancers.
Piazza del Popolo in Rome -
View Larger Map
Scouting is only part of the process. Once Matt has coordinated a group in a city, he helps everyone get to the designated destination by creating a customized
My Map
and sharing it with the participants so they can easily navigate to the planned meetup location. The end result is something everyone around the world can relate to.
Follow Matt as he continues to travel the world on his site http://www.wherethehellismatt.com.
Keep dancing!
Posted by Dave Kim, Google Maps Marketing Manager
Building Better Maps in Southeast Asia
April 24, 2013
Have you ever found yourself standing on the western bank of the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, looking for a way to get across to the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha? Or perhaps you’ve spent time scouring a map of Jakarta to find Indonesia’s famous National Monument. In order to make it easier for locals and visitors alike to find what they need and get to where they want to go, today we are publishing more comprehensive and accurate maps for Thailand and Indonesia.
View Larger Map
These updated maps are part of a project called
Ground Truth
that began in 2008 as part of our ongoing quest to provide people everywhere with the most comprehensive and accurate maps. Through this project, we use high-quality map data from authoritative sources around the world and then apply a mix of advanced algorithms, supplemental data (including satellite, aerial and Street View imagery), and human input to help create a map that mirrors the real world as closely as possible.
For example, the updated map for Thailand now provides more comprehensive information about the Bangkok city center shown below. So next time you happen to find yourself needing to cross the Chao Phraya River, you’ll be able to see that many ferry routes across the river are now mapped in greater detail, with route names shown and piers clearly marked. You can also pinpoint nearby points of interest, such as the Grand Palace and other sites like Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha).
View Larger Map
We’ve also added many other kinds of new information to the map, including improved local-language labels and detailed coverage for prominent places like universities and hospitals. For example, the new map shows building outlines, department labels, and colored highlighting for campus grounds at the Gadjah Mada University, one of Indonesia’s largest universities.
View Larger Map
Today’s update also makes our maps more comprehensive by bringing more of Thailand and Indonesia’s natural geography online for everyone to see. The country of Indonesia spans more than 17,000 islands; with today’s update, many of these islands — including Komodo Island, home to some world-famous
dragons
— are appearing on Google Maps for the first time.
View Larger Map
Of course, the world is always changing, and we want Google Maps to change with it. If you happen to notice something on the map that needs updating, you can let us know by clicking the “
Report a problem
” link, which is visible today in the lower right corner of your screen when you’re browsing the map of Thailand or Indonesia. We’ll review your comments and make the appropriate changes to the map; you’ll often see the updates take effect within just a few minutes or hours of the time we verify your feedback!
Today’s updated maps are just another milestone on our never-ending journey to bring you the most accurate and comprehensive maps of the entire world. We hope Google Maps will help you explore your way through Bangkok, Bali, Bandung, and more!
Posted by Brian McClendon, VP Google Maps and Google Earth
Celebrating the 50th country on Street View
April 23, 2013
Whether you're planning a summer vacation to visit
the Colosseum
or exploring potential neighborhoods for your next move, Street View gives you instant access to the places you want to see -- even before you leave the house. We launched Street View
in 2007 in five U.S. cities
to give you what we called a “feet on the ground” experience and have since been growing the program to make it more comprehensive, accurate and useful for everyone.
Today, we’ve reached 50 countries with the launch of Street View in Hungary and Lesotho and are significantly expanding our coverage in Poland and Romania, among other locations around the world. This is also the
largest single update
of Street View imagery we’ve ever pushed, including new and updated imagery for nearly 350,000 miles of roads across 14 countries.
Now you can take a virtual stroll through the historic center of Budapest, right along the Danube (the river that carves the city in two). See the
Hungarian Parliament building
or the famous
Chain bridge
.
View Larger Map
Budapest, Lánchíd (Chain bridge)
Other Hungarian treasures to be discovered include the
Széchenyi thermal bath
, the largest medicinal bath in Europe, as well as the wonders of
Buda castle
.
Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South Africa, is the only independent state that sits entirely 1,000m or more above sea level. Explore some of the mountainous imagery captured by our Street View cars, including
the winding roads
and
lakes
.
View Larger Map
Leribe District, Lesotho
Other sights include the
Lesotho Evangelical Church
, which is one of Africa's oldest Protestant churches, founded in 1833 by missionaries from Paris, and the
traditional architecture
in Nkesi, Maseru.
We’re also refreshing and expanding existing Street View coverage in France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore and Thailand. And, we’ve added new special collections of a host of picturesque spots—using our
Street View Trike
technology -- that include Portugal’s
Pena National Palace
, or the
Sha Tin Che Kung Temple
in Hong Kong or the
Kilkenny Castle in Ireland
.
View Larger Map
Kilkenny Castle, Ireland
From the first handful of
U.S. cities
, to the now thousands of cities and villages worldwide, we’ve spent the past six years updating Google Maps for you. From
Antarctica
to
Australia
, from
South Korea
to
South Africa
, from the
snow-capped peaks of Everest
to the
Great Barrier Reef
, you can navigate more than 5 million miles of the world, without ever leaving home. So spin the globe and take a walk through any one of the 50 countries now on Street View.
Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Program Manager, Google Street View
Welcoming the United Kingdom to Google Map Maker
April 11, 2013
More than 40,000 people around the world are making contributions and improving Google Maps through
Google Map Maker
each month. Now it’s your turn to help, whether marking the trails through
Brecon Beacons National Park
in Wales, adding all your favorite shops in London’s
Soho Square
, or improving driving directions to
St Ives
in Cornwall. Drawing from your knowledge about world famous tourist destinations or the streets of your hometown, you can now use
Google Map Maker
to make the map of the United Kingdom (along with Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey) more comprehensive and accurate than ever before. Once approved, these improvements will appear across
Google Maps
,
Google Earth
, and
Google Maps for Mobile
.
UK Googlers and community members are kicking off today’s launch with a MapUp workshop in England’s Bletchley Park. As you can see from this work-in-progress, contributing to Google Map Maker can quickly transform a simple map into a more detailed and accurate representation of a city’s local treasures.
Bletchley Park, UK: Before and After
Krzysztof Przygoda
, a Poland native who’s actively contributed to the map of that country via Map Maker, has since relocated with his family to the UK. Now, he’s looking forward to enriching the maps of both his homeland and his new stomping grounds. Krzysztof is particularly eager to map the narrow network of paths that wind through his new neighborhood, with the goal of improving directions and navigation for local cyclists and pedestrians in Gloucester.
If you’re familiar with or fond of particular places throughout the United Kingdom, we invite you to join our collective effort to add to the Google Map of this great country too! Get started by engaging with the ever-growing
community of mappers
, exploring the
Map Maker Help Center
, or just
dive right in
and begin mapping your world today.
Posted by Satish Mavuri, Program Manager
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