Latest news with #LookAround
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Pedestrian Apple Maps camera spotted getting panoramic views in Leeds
A man wearing an Apple Maps camera backpack was spotted walking down a road for the app's Look Around feature. Marti Blagborough, 32, noticed a man carrying a large backpack with a big 360-degree camera attached to the top, sporting the Apple Maps logo. The man was on Burton Road in Beeston, Leeds, on Monday (June 16), as Marti was on his way to pick up his children from school. According to Apple, they use pedestrians with backpacks for Apple Maps image collection when roads are inaccessible by vehicle or for capturing Look Around images. Since this street is easily accessible by car, the pedestrian was likely capturing images specifically for the Look Around feature, which provides users with a 360-degree panoramic view. Apple confirms on its website that pedestrian cameras have been operating across areas in Leeds from May 2, 2025, and will continue until July 4.
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Indian Express
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.
The National
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- The National
Apple vehicles are on Dubai streets to update Maps and here's where you'll see them
Apple has started conducting ground surveys using Lidar-equipped vehicles in Dubai as part of a revamp of its Maps app, in preparation for updating the service in the UAE. The data collection phase will run until June 30 in select areas in the emirate. The iPhone maker, however, did not disclose when Maps in the UAE will be updated with the gathered data. They are scattered across the emirate. The biggest area being scanned is Dubai Marina, according to a map provided by Apple on its website. Other areas in the plan include the Burj Al Arab, Madinat Jumeirah, the Al Safa Park Complex, Al Habtoor City, the inner road along the Dubai International Financial Centre and parts of Oud Metha. It is unclear if Apple will add more locations to this list. Apple also says it may 'periodically' revisit and recollect data in some locations to maintain an 'up-to-date map'. Apple did not disclose what type of vehicles it will use for the data gathering in Dubai. However, during testing in other countries, Apple has used saloons, SUVs and vans, usually emblazoned with a logo that says 'Apple Maps Imagery Collection'. In the UK, for example, it has used vehicles from Subaru, while in India it has used Mahindra, according to images posted on the web. Apple's own devices, including iPhones, iPads and MacBooks, are also being used to collect data. To access areas where vehicles cannot or will not be able to reach, Apple will use portable backpack systems – still with Lidar – that can also collect the same data, it said. It is a more compact version of the vehicle collection system, 'but still allows for collection of Lidar point cloud and imagery', it said. These backpacks will be able to gather data from areas such as pedestrian-only streets, parks, plazas and transit stations. The UAE, Palestine and Israel are the only areas in the Middle East where Apple is gathering data to improve maps in a list that comprises 56 markets, according to its website. Apple gradually adds more to its app availability lists over time, but has not given any indication that it will expand its Maps plans in the region in the near future. Apple, much like Google Maps, blurs out sensitive imagery, particularly people's faces and vehicle licence plates on its Look Around feature within Maps. Look Around, released alongside iOS 13 in 2019, provides interactive panoramas and lets users view street-level imagery in 360 degrees. Censoring these types of imagery has been standard practice for such services in order not to breach privacy laws. Apple is also giving users the option to request that faces, licence plates and houses be blurred out, it said.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
Apple will use its street view Maps photos to train AI models
Apple plans to start using images it collects for Maps to train its AI models. In a disclosure spotted by 9to5Mac, the company said starting this month it would use images it captures to provide its Look Around feature for the additional purpose of training some of its generative AI models. Look Around is Apple's answer to Google Street View. The company originally released the feature alongside its 2019 revamp of Apple Maps. The tool allows users to see locations from ground level. Apple blurs faces and license plates photographed in Look Around images to protect the privacy of any individuals caught in its survey efforts. "In addition to improving Apple Maps and the algorithms that blur faces and license plates in images published in Look Around feature, Apple also will use blurred imagery collected during surveys conducted beginning in March 2025 to develop and improve other Apple products and services," the company writes in the disclosure. "This includes using data to train models powering Apple products and services, including models related to image recognition, creation, and enhancement." Apple did not immediately respond to Engadget's request for more information. The company's Apple Maps image collection policy page provides a list of regions and dates when it plans to collect new images for Look Around. People can find when Apple's survey crews and vehicles plan to visit their area by sorting by country and then clicking on a specific region. Apple currently offers a few different features that rely on image generation models. Image Playground, for instance, allows owners of Apple Intelligence-compatible devices to write a prompt to create a new image. There's also Clean Up in Photos, which you can use to remove objects from your favorite snapshots. Google has been using Street View images to train AI models for years. In 2017, for example, a pair of researchers from the company trained a machine learning model to generate professional-looking photographs from a dataset collected from Street View.
