Bing Maps has just got a bit better, offering users the possibility to enjoy new, high-resolution imagery in new areas across the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Tokyo. According to Bing, the latest publication of Bird's Eye includes 215 TB of new data, covering 230,004 square kilometers and including over 1.1 million files.
For those out of the loop, we should note that Bing Maps offers an oblique perspective of the world, a special feature to the service, Microsoft notes.
“We are proud to announce Bird's Eye has a total of 1,388,593 square kilometers of imagery,” the Redmond-based software giant also announced.
Some of the refreshed areas with new Bird's Eye include Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo, Japan; Virgin Valley Ranch Road, Humboldt County, Nevada; Stadium, New York, New York; and Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado.
The new release also includes imagery covering Padre Island, Nueces County, Texas; Little Spokane River, Washington; Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Beach, California; Orange County Airport, California; Clearwater Harbor, Florida; and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas, Texas.
There are three types of data included in Bird's Eye map mode:
- Native Bird's Eye scenes are the original oblique aerial photos that are accessed individually at the highest zoom levels. This imagery captured at a 45 degree angled perspective provides incredible detail, particularly of buildings and landmarks.
- Bird's Eye Oblique Mosaics are original oblique aerial photos that have been merged together to form a seamless image layer.
- Oblique projected aerial is comprised of nadir (or top-down) photography projected onto a digital terrain model at a 45 degree angle to provide topological depth perception where Bird's Eye data is not available. The new release includes 84,451 square kilometers of new Bird's Eye Oblique Mosaic, in areas that were not available to users prior to it.
The rest of the 145,553 square kilometers of the total release involves "refreshed" Bird's Eye imagery, with new Oblique Mosaics covering existing Bird's Eye imagery and replacing old layers. You can learn more on the matter on Microsoft’s website.
