PUBLIC MARKS from sbrothier with tags maps & 3d

Traditionally, maps have been expensive and time-consuming to make, but that’s changing fast. High-quality maps are easier to make every day thanks to OpenStreetMap and modern computer graphics capabilities, and we feel they can be pushed even further with ideas and techniques from 3D animation, video games, and other visual disciplines. To test this theory, the Mapzen graphics team has been working on a mapping library called Tangram.

The Terrainator allows you to select an arbitrary piece of geography, and have an accurate scale model generated and uploaded to Shapeways, ready for 3D-printing.

When we first started Street View as an experimental project, we packed several computers into the back of an SUV, stuck cameras, lasers, and a GPS device on top, and drove around collecting our first imagery. Since Street View launched for five U.S. cities in May 2007, we've expanded our 360-degree panoramic views to include locations on all seven continents. We then moved to a van for a brief period, before switching to a fleet of cars that would allow us to scale the project throughout the US and around the world. We went from a rack of computers to one small computer per car, and then set to work refining our camera system to capture higher-resolution panoramic views. After several iterations of the car and camera technology, the latest car has 15 lenses taking 360 degrees of photos. It also has motion sensors to track its position, a hard drive to store data, a small computer running the system, and lasers to capture 3D data to determine distances within the Street View imagery.