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What Good Are 3D Maps, Anyway?

So far, Google has relegated its 3D technology to its tool of discovery, Google Earth. Will Apple do the same, or will 3D technology become a staple of maps and navigation?

June 7, 2012

The upcoming 3D depictions of the world's buildings by Google, and presumably Apple, may be the next big technological achievement for both companies. But so far, no one has answered the key question: really, what good is it?

Google's press conference Wednesday, where it of the new technology, was strictly defensive.

If the rumors are true, Apple is expected to at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) next week - where Apple will also have to justify its use of 3D technology using phrases other than "revolutionary" or "magical." Neither will be the first to the market, as PCMag's Chandra Steele so neatly demonstrated.

Google, however, clearly invited reporters to its San Francisco office yesterday to position its Google Maps technology as the market leader. But its "announcement" of offline Google Maps for Android . You can also already find . And the 3D Google Earth for mobile technology isn't exactly here, just available in a demonstration that sputtered a bit before finally launching.

In a few weeks, Google plans to roll out the 3D technology to a few cities it modeled using Google Earth; Google hasn't disclosed which ones, but its launch video (below) implies the San Francisco Bay Area, including Oakland. By the end of the year, about 300 million people will be covered by the new 3D technology, it said.

Here's the crux of the issue: the new 3D technology seems like a wonderful addition to Google Earth, a technology that has combined 3D terrain and satellite imagery for years now. So far, Google hasn't said whether or not it will add 3D technology to Maps, Earth's more practical cousin. And that, I think, may be a good thing.

When you think about it, Google Earth and Google Maps have been on a collision course for years now. Maps includes terrain; Google Earth includes streets. Google Maps includes Street View and the ability to jump right into a browser-based Google Earth.

Google Maps, especially, has become a tool for both navigation and data visualization, a blurring that enthusiast sites like Google Maps Mania take for granted. Most users still use Maps to pick the best route to their destination, whether it be a specific address or a more generic location, such as the nearest Taco Bell.

Google Earth, by contrast, is more of a path to discovery. The initial view - "diving" from outer space to your backyard - still remains as fresh and magical as it did several years ago, when launched in 2005. The 3D representations only add to the veracity of the depiction. And they're not new; Google began adding them in March, to complement the 3D view it made available to desktop users. They're also optional, and can be switched on and off via a checkbox.

Some GPS providers already offer a basic 3D view of the surrounding landscape. But I wonder if Apple will be able to implement the 3D "cinema verite" view in such a way that it will enhance the experience, rather than clutter it with unnecessary data. Within the Google framework, the new 3D buildings enhance the realism of the virtual world of Google Earth. But a 3D cityscape can also clutter the landscape, exactly the noise that Google Maps is designed to filter out.

Elements of Cartography, first published in 1953, put the problem a different way. "When the printed map was the sole product, cartographers controlled every bit of information," the introduction to the sixth edition, printed in 1995, reads. "Users could extract from a map only what cartographers chose to include. With digital technology, the situation is entirely different. Users can select the information they want to include in a visualization."

Frankly, there's something to be said about CityMaps, a bare-bones maps site that puts retail stores and any deals they offer on a city map.

Other questions for the new version of Google Earth include the data load: how many megabytes will it cost to virtually fly to San Francisco to Seattle? And then there's the privacy aspect. Do you really think that the Swiss or Germans are going to allow synchronized overflights designed to map their 3D buildings? I strongly doubt it. I can almost guarantee , now that Google Street View has taken to the skies.

I'm not betting against Apple. I suspect that Apple will use its 3D data as its own answer to Street View as well as Google Earth: a 3D representation that users can "fly" around in and explore, with enough detail that they can visually confirm their final destination when they arrive using the iOS version of the mapping application.

I'd also expect Apple to use geolocation as a stepping stone toward further developments. I still believe Apple has a mobile payments plan waiting in the wings, or at least a mobile deals platform that it has quietly polished to perfection.

But whether the new 3D maps will simply prove to be the new Siri - indispensable for some, a curiosity for others - or the next platform upon which developers can build, remains unknown. For now, I'd say Google's 3D technology is almost two-dimensional in its lack of depth.