Ever since Apple decided to dump the Google maps, the search giant seems to be adding to its mapping portfolio. The latest in the series of enhancement is that nearly 25 million new building footprints of major cities across the U.S. are added to Google Maps.
Adding another set of detail to its maps for desktop and mobile, users now get to see millions of building footprints of U.S. cities apart from the streets, parks, and bodies of water that its mapping services already provide. The cities include Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, the San Francisco Bay Area and Miami.
"As we go about our daily travels, we often rely on buildings to orient ourselves, locate landmarks and navigate from place to place," Google Maps Engineering Manager Bobby Parikh wrote in the company's official blog post. "These building footprints, complete with height detail, are algorithmically created by taking aerial imagery and using computer vision techniques to render the building shapes. This process enables us to provide more building footprints and a more comprehensive and detailed map than ever before.
"While most of these shapes were algorithmically created, the Internet major gives the users the option to submit corrections through Google Map Maker. For areas that you're familiar with, you can also help ensure that the building footprints are accurate and up-to-date by using our community mapping tool, Google Map Maker. In addition to improving the shapes, you can also assign your favourite local business to an existing building or draw the building footprint for that business using Map Maker."
