See Japan Tsunami Aftermath, Recovery Efforts Close Up With Google Street View
Street View, Google’s high-tech method of placing you (virtually) on the streets of any properly mapped neighborhood on the planet, has fulfilled a promise to use its system to drive home the ongoing tragedy of (and subsequent rebuilding from) last year’s Japanese tsunami.
Google stated in July that it would drive up and down the ravaged streets of the northern coast of the Fukushima Prefecture area, photographing it using their special Street View camera system, in order to accurately document the ongoing Japan’s mountainous (and inspiring) rebuilding efforts.
In a recent public statement, Street View Senior Product Manager Kei Kawai said that Google was ready to fulfill that promise, releasing full 360 degree panorama imagery of areas once covered in mud, cars, building debris and bodies. Because the new Street View images replace the pre-tsunami offerings, a companion website, Memories For the Future, was created by Google to allow users to look at before and after imagery of affected areas.
The Street Maps view adds to Google's prolific documentation of the tsunami's aftermath, which includes curated satellite maps with 3D buildings and maps of locations shown in YouTube videos covering the tragedy.
To see the Street View images, visit Google Maps and perform a search for Fukushima Prefecture or Miagi Prefecture, Japan. You can also click here to be taken directly to one affected region. Drag the little yellow man on the navigation menu to the street you wish to virtually walk down. Once Street View shows you the chosen neighborhood up close, click and drag on the screen to navigate around the recovery zone.
Google hopes that the captured imagery will help researchers determine the effects of shocking natural disasters such as the tsunami, and use street view to figure out ways to minimize the toll of future events.
Follow Technorati