German company says it has supplied mini drone and hopes to deliver dozens more soon to search engine giant
New York:
Google is said to be considering using a fleet of drones to captures images for its Street View services.
Street View is an add-on to Google offers photographs of locations taken by Street View cars that are equipped with a camera.
But German drone manufacturer Microdrones GmbH told the German publication, Wirtschaft Woche, the drones could help provided additional images. The company said it has already supplied a mini drone to Google and hopes to delver dozens more machines soon.
Sven Juerss, the chief executive of Microdrones GmbH, a German aerial vehicles (UAVs), has said that his company has supplied Google with an aircraft and expects to provide "dozens" more in the future.
Google has moved swiftly to deny that the purchase was for company use - Peter Barron, a spokesman for the firm's UK office, told the Telegraph: "Google is not testing or using this technology. This was a purchase by a Google executive with an interest in robotics for personal use."
Speaking to the German business magazine Wirtschaft Woche, Juerss said; "The UAVs are well suited to provide more timely recording of the map service Google Earth."
Microdrones already sells its UAVs to Merseyside Police, and - according to technology website The Register - is rumoured to have previously sold them to British special forces.
The UAV, known as a 'hicam microdrone", is less than 1m (3ft 3in) wide and weigh less than a kilogram (2.2lb). It has four battery-powered rotors and can stay in the air for more than an hour. It navigates itself automatically and can take high-quality photographs of large areas beneath it.
The Register suggests that the drone would most likely be used for cheap aerial photography.
If the drones were to be used by Google - which the company has denied - it would be likely to start a new privacy row, despite the shots not being significantly different from existing aerial photography.
Street View, the ground-level photography of the world's streets, sparked controversy as various photographs were claimed to invade people's privacy. The pictures included images of celebrities' and politicians' houses, people leaving sex shops and one image of a naked three-year-old boy.
When contacted about the news, a Google rep told TechRadar that the company was, "always looking at ways to improve our mapping services," though was quick to add that, "as part of this effort we explore many different technologies but we are not using or testing this one."
The Google rep also informed us that Google currently has no current 'business relationship' with Microdrones, suggesting that the current spate of news stories was based on little more than the fact that the company has bought a single flying drone from the Germany company.
Additionally, while Google claims that it has no current plans to roll out the use of such flying photographing drones to augment Street View or Maps, should the company want to pursue such a plan in the future it is also likely that Google would require authorisation from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority to ensure the use of such unmanned drones was not a threat to public health.
However, the move has raised concerns from privacy groups which fear the drones will be used to snap intrusive pictures of homes and gardens not usually visible from the road.
Soon, Street View in Germany
Berlin:
Google will introduce its "Street View" mapping features for 20 of Germany's largest cities before the end of the year, the company announced Tuesday, launching a new debate over privacy in Germany.
German officials have been one of the harshest critics of the "Street View" program, which provides detailed photographs of neighbourhoods taken by Google cameras.
At the insistence of authorities, the faces of individuals and licenses plates will be blurred.
People can also ask to have images of their homes removed from the database starting next week - a move aimed at dispelling privacy fears.
"This tool available before the launch of the service is unique to Germany." Google Inc. spokeswoman Lena Wagner said Tuesday, adding the company hopes to launch maps of the 20 cities in November, then expand the service.
The cities will include Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne, among others.
But privacy watchdogs remain critical as the announcement comes on short notice, in the middle of summer holidays, with residents only able to ask for their house to be removed for a four-week window.
No comments:
Post a Comment