Tag Archives: Google Earth

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Google Earth vs. Reality, Revisited

Last week I compared some real-life photos with the same scene in Google Earth.  Since I’m a bit of a computer/mapping/photography geek, I couldn’t resist doing a few more.  That actually ended up being a pretty popular post, with thousands of pageviews, which just goes to show I’m not the only combination computer/mapping/photography geek out there.

Here’s a view of San Francisco from Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.  Follow this link to see larger versions in Flickr.  This one is even better than the two from last week – look how well the streets, buildings, and Golden Gate Bridge match with the photo.

Google Earth vs. Reality - San Francisco from Coit Tower

Now I’ll go a little more international.  Here’s a photo from the site of ancient Mycenae in Greece.  This is above the famous Lion Gate looking out tat the hills surrounding the Argolid plain.  See larger versions in Flickr.  The aerial photograph that Google Earth maps to the topography isn’t as detailed as the real life photo, but even the borders of the olive groves line up.

Google Earth vs. Reality - Mycenae, Greece

These next two are not as identical as the San Francisco cityscapes, but are still impressive because of how well they evoke the real life scenes without 3-d buildings.

The first is from the Acropolis in Athens, looking out over the surrounding neighborhood.  Larger versions in Flickr.

Google Earth vs. Reality - Athens from the Acropolis

Here’s another shot from the Acropolis showing the new Acropolis Museum.  Larger versions in Flickr.

Google Earth vs. Reality - Athens and the new Acropolis Museum

If you feel like making some comparisons of your own, please let me know in the comments below – I’d love to see what other people could come up with.

Google Earth vs. Reality

Google Earth is getting better and better and will soon be almost as good as actually being there. Don’t beleive me? I decided to pick a couple of shots and line up the same view in Google earth to compare. This first photo is from San Bruno Mountain (original photo here), showing the San Francisco skyline:

Google Earth vs. Reality - San Francisco

You should definitely click through to see the full-sized version. The version on the right is missing the flowers in the foreground and the clouds are a little different but otherwise it’s very recognizable.

Here’s another shot of San Francisco, this one from the bay (original photo here). I thought this would show off the detail of some of the 3d buildings in Google Earth. I had a hard time lining up a large screenshot because the photo was taken at 8x zoom, but you get the idea.

Google Earth vs. Reality - San Francisco from the Bay

Again, you should click though to the full sized version to get the full effect.

What do you think? Will Google Earth evolve to the point where no one will ever need to travel? My guess is that people will still get wanderlust and until Google unveils a food modem you’ll have to go get the sourdough yourself.

Let me know if you liked these in the comments and I’ll do a few more.