Categories: Mobile

Anyone can add 360-degree panoramas to Google Maps with Android 4.2’s new Photo Sphere feature

One of the most exciting feature announcements to come from yesterday’s Android 4.2 launch and Google’s new suite of Nexus devices is Photo Sphere, a feature that enables anyone to capture full 360-degree panoramas intuitively, which can then to added to Google Maps.

“Inspired by Street View”, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean’s new Camera app allows users to photograph an entire scene in every direction to create a 360-degree “immersive experience”. The images, or Photo Spheres, are stored as JPEGs and all the extra information required to view them in 360-degree format is stored as XML data attached to the images themselves.

Photo Spheres can be emailed and posted on Google+, but perhaps most importantly can be added to Google Maps to help make it more comprehensive and “enable other travelers to get an accurate preview of a location before they arrive”.

Blue circle icons denote user-contributed Photo Spheres on Google Maps for desktop only.

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

Recent Posts

DARPA ‘CoasterChase’ looks to mitigate stress with ingestible neurotech

DARPA is putting together a research program called CoasterChase that aims to mitigate warfighters' stress…

14 hours ago

Club of Rome launches joint taskforce that would restrict your food, travel & ownership choices

The 'Materials and Consumption Taskforce' is an attempt to micro-manage all aspects of your life:…

6 days ago

As the tech talent shortage continues, Ness Digital Engineering nurtures its rising stars

Talent in the tech industry has long been a hot commodity. Yet in today's world,…

6 days ago

Prezent launches My Workspace to ensure AI-powered presentation software works as tool, not a burden

In an ideal scenario, professionals in 2025 should be able to leverage a personal suite…

7 days ago

NTT’s simultaneous Kabuki performance shows photonics connectivity is more than a song and dance

In a fusion of tradition and technology, Japanese tech firm NTT unveiled the capabilities of…

1 week ago

UN finalizes neurotech ethics draft, to be adopted at General Conference

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) finalizes its "Recommendation on the Ethics…

2 weeks ago