Apple Maps street view footage collection ongoing in Pune with human-mounted system
The image collection process for Apple Maps' street view feature named Look Around is underway in Pune city. Spotted by The Indian Express at a street leading up to Taljai Hill on Monday, a human-mounted backpack system that uses eight cameras to capture 360-degree footage is being used for the process.
Similar to Google Maps' street view, this feature allows users to virtually visit locations.
According to Apple's website, this mapping process is being conducted in Maharashtra at locations like Pune and Mumbai from February 24 to July 31. Pedestrian surveys are used to improve and update Apple Maps 'at locations where vehicles simply can't go'. The tech giant says it is committed to ensuring privacy during this process and blurs faces and number plates before using the collected footage.
Officials at the Shinde High School at Taljai Hill said they had not allowed the survey to be conducted on the premises of the sports ground. Similarly, a Taljai Hill forest official told The Indian Express. 'They had permission from the Pune Municipal Corporation to survey, but not from the forest department. Therefore we did not allow them inside. If they get the permission then fine.' The surveyor at Taljai Hill did not wish to talk to the media.
A map on the website also highlights the other areas in the two cities that the survey intends to cover. In Pune, the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, Katraj Lake, Saragbaug, Shaniwar Wada, the area in and around Chhatrapati Sambhaji Garden, Hanuman Tekdi, Chaturshrungi Hill, Deccan College, the area around Pashan lake, and others locations will be covered.
In Mumbai, the survey areas include the CST Terminus, the Oval Maidan, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Wankhede and Brabourne Stadiums, Chor Bazar, Mahalaxmi Race Course, Marine Drive, the area around Powai lake, Chheda Nagar Reserved Forest, Andheri Railway Station, Kanheri Caves, Worli Fort, Water Kingdom, and many other locations.
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