Google has announced an update to its Street View application for Android devices, enabling users to directly contribute photographs that will improve the Google Maps experience. This new functionality, accessed through a “connected photos” tool within the latest version of the app, allows individuals to record a sequence of pictures while traveling along streets or pathways.

The feature necessitates an Android device compatible with ARCore, Google’s augmented reality platform. ARCore functions by enabling the phone to perceive its surroundings, identifying the dimensions and locations of surfaces, the device’s orientation within the environment, and the prevailing lighting conditions. Support for ARCore extends to a range of Android devices running Android 7.0 (Nougat) or later versions.

Google’s Street View app has been available for five years. Initially, its purpose was to facilitate users sharing their own panoramic images to enrich the Google Maps platform. However, as mobile phone technology has advanced, the app has also evolved.

The latest iteration of the Street View app empowers users to capture images utilizing ARCore – the same augmented reality technology Google employs for its Live View navigation feature in Maps, which assists phones in recognizing landmarks to aid user orientation.

Once these images are published through the Street View app, Google will automatically process them, rotating, positioning, and linking them together to create a cohesive series of connected photos. These will then be accurately placed on Google Maps for others to view.

The same privacy safeguards applied to Google’s own Street View imagery – captured by its Street View vehicles – will also be implemented for these user-submitted photos. This includes automatically blurring faces and license plates, and providing a mechanism for users to report inappropriate imagery or content for review.

While the resulting connected photos may not possess the same level of refinement as Google’s professionally captured Street View images, this system significantly broadens access to contributing to Street View. The image capture process no longer requires specialized equipment like 360-degree cameras or vehicle-mounted setups. This means individuals in less accessible areas can now contribute to Street View using only a compatible Android phone and an internet connection.

Google will prioritize displaying its own Street View imagery when available, indicated by a solid blue line on the map. However, in areas lacking official Street View coverage, the user-contributed connected photos will be presented as a dotted blue line within the Street View layer.

Furthermore, Google intends to leverage the data within these photos to update Google Maps with information about businesses, including their names, addresses, and operating hours, if visible on storefront signage.

Initial testing of this technology involved users capturing photos in Nigeria, Japan, and Brazil.

Today, Google has officially launched the connected photos feature in beta within the Street View app. This public beta is currently available in Toronto, Canada; New York, New York; and Austin, Texas, in addition to Nigeria, Indonesia, and Costa Rica. Google plans to expand support to additional regions as the testing phase progresses.