HDTV/3D TV News
In the summer, after the March earthquake and tsunami which devastated Japan, Google announced that it intended to photograph and archive the areas of the country which were worst hit by the disaster.
And indeed the Street View cars were sent out to document the event digitally, driving across some 44,000km of the affected regions to snap 360 degree panoramic images.
The results have just been published this week on a website entitled Memories for the Future, which you can take a look at here.
Both before and after shots are included of the various areas, to give viewers a better idea of the sort of havoc which the natural disaster wreaked.
The pictures show countryside cluttered with tons of debris, and thriving towns full of houses absolutely flattened, with the odd structure (or piece of structure) remaining here and there.
One photo shows a huge ship stranded in the middle of a town, lying across a road.
Google notes that there are timestamps on the various images to illustrate the period between the before and after shots.
The search outfit says that this has been a much requested feature in the past, and the timestamps are now available on Street View images worldwide.
Thus users can now determine exactly how much an area might have changed if, for example, they’re about to go on holiday there, or are thinking of moving to an area.
On its blog page, Google said: “In the case of the post-tsunami imagery of Japan, we hope this particular digital archiving project will be useful to researchers and scientists who study the effects of natural disasters.”
“We also believe that the imagery is a useful tool for anyone around the world who wants to better understand the extent of the damage.”
“Seeing the street-level imagery of the affected areas puts the plight of these communities into perspective and ensures that the memories of the disaster remain relevant and tangible for future generations.”
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