Digitizing the planet. Capturing the world in 360° for VR navigation.
Google streetview used 360 cameras on cars to capture all streets, walkways trails and thousands of other locations around the world. With VR you can explore those areas and go where those cars were. To increase the range of moment within that digital space Google has started a 360 degree crowd-sourced photography program to capture the rest of the world. Anyone with a 360 camera and a StreetView app can now contribute to building the digital copy of the entire planet.
Check out My Street View contributions https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/114663715443107078267/photos
This is fantastic news for all photographers and early adopters of 360 and VR technology. It’s an opportunity to contribute to a massive (and important) campaign and also make some money using their knowledge of technology to help build up this DIGITAL Version of the Earth. Current names include DigiEarth, Metaverse , Google’s Earth or Earth 2.0
If you’ve seen what’s coming with software technology like SeaDragon and PhotoSynth, you may be able to better understand how far along we are in making the world a digital place. Stitching panorama images into 360 was only the beginning. The 360 images are now being stitched together and blended with all other images ever taken of the earth.This is how we will be assembling the digital version of the world that can be navigated in Virtual Reality devices.
The most exciting thing will be the option of entering past moment captures, (events). Exploring this digital copy of the world offers extra abilities once Video recordings also get integrated to the digital environment. the ability to Pause, rewind and replay Real life events on earth will be an amazing experience. Even more Impressive will be when exploring the VR environment and finding Live streaming locations (thanks to 360video) . This offers untold opportunities , imagine roaming “Earth2” in your VR device, approaching a stadium and choosing to watch any past sporting event. (the creation of which (3d) comes from every image and video capture taken at that event.
How can it get weirder? Well if there is an event or location (IRL) being streamed LIVE, well then, you “catch up to Real-Time and you are there in Telepresence. Finding interactive spaces like stores where you can shop, classrooms you can attend and games you can play will become the passtime of the future for those inside VR (yet in their minds, out in the world).
The Digital Earth is coming soon to a VR device near you, and it will blend our online interactions into what seems like a Video Game.
learn more about how to do this, visit http://www.ThisIsMeInVR.com