Google Inc. is enabling users worldwide to feel like they are traveling back in time under a service initially set up to help victims of the March 2011 disaster in northeastern Japan.
The company's new feature, introduced on April 24, shows 360-degree street views, past and present, in cities, towns, villages and other locations from around the globe.
The images are saved in Google's Street View archives.
The service was born in Japan after residents forced to evacuate after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster said they wanted to see their homes and communities as they once were.
In response, Google Japan in December 2011 began providing images of devastated areas taken before the disaster.
Due to its popularity in Japan, Google decided to expand the service to more than 50 countries and regions.
"We realized the importance of keeping images of the past due to the disaster," said Keiichi Kawai, who oversees Street View for Google Japan and is a native of Sendai, which was affected by the disaster. "We are determined to keep records of the changes cities undergo around the world."
Google updates images under Street View in accordance with changes in cityscapes.
Users of the new feature can follow the restoration work done on JR Tokyo Station's famous red-brick Marunouchi terminal building via four images taken since November 2009, when reconstruction was still under way.
Google's Street View first became available in Japan in 2008 after the launch in the United States in 2007.
Source : http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201404240064
