SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 4 — Google has certified their first vehicle-mounted camera as part of a new Street View ready program that invites anyone to capture images and share them on Google’s virtual mapping service.

Announced back in May, the Street View ready campaign is an attempt at crowdsourcing Google Street View and empowering regular users to enrich the immersive map.

The first camera to receive the Google certification for car-mounted photo capturing is the Insta360 Pro, designed with onboard stabilisation and an advanced optical-flow stitching algorithm to capture content while mounted on a moving vehicle.

Users can control the Pro with the Street View app and upload their 360-degree content directly to Street View using a specially developed stitching software for the camera.

The camera will also be loaned out to photographers, travellers and other contributors approved by Google Street View.

The Insta360 Pro is one of 20 new 360-degree cameras that are set to hit the market in the coming months.

After purchasing the cameras, users download the Street View app and start creating.

Cameras are divided into four categories. Street View mobile ready cameras are 360 devices that can publish images directly from a mobile app; Street View VR ready cameras collect geometry in addition to generating sets of connected 360 photos, while workflow ready cameras have publishing tools that can upload to Street View accounts.

The Insta360 Pro is the first Street View auto ready camera tailored for vehicle-based collection of images with highest accuracy.

The camera retails for US$3,499 (RM14,793). — AFP-Relaxnews