5 ms·

In this day of ubiquitous 3D acceleration, I think any digital map that lets you zoom out more than a hundred miles or so should be an accurate 3D projection.

• ufmace 6y ago
  I think Google Maps already does this at least
  • chrisseaton 6y ago
    > I think Google Maps already does this at least It clearly doesn't - you can zoom out and see this for yourself. It uses an equatorial variant of the Mercator projection.
    • fireattack 6y ago
      Looks pretty good to me? I'm no expert of course, but at least it's not similar to Mercator at all. https://i.imgur.com/D6fMLop.gifv https://i.imgur.com/D6fMLop.gifv (Native vid: https://i.imgur.com/D6fMLop.mp4 https://i.imgur.com/D6fMLop.mp4)
      • SamBam 6y ago
        It is definitely the Mercator projection. Here is the first frame of your video overlaid on top of a standard Mercator projection: https://imgur.com/a/4cHi6Di https://imgur.com/a/4cHi6Di As for whether it looks "so bad," it's hard to tell from that video, because it's a small segment of the map, all in the northern-most latitudes. The Mercator projection is very shape-conforming (except close to the poles, as you can see from the huge top of Greenland), and its size distortions depend on latitude, so locally it's always going to be very "good" compared with a globe. You're not going to see any huge "errors" just comparing the before-and-after shapes of Greenland (although, again, the top of Greenland is very distorted there), or comparing its size to its closest neighbors.
        • fireattack 6y ago
          Sorry I wasn't clear. The first frame is the Mercator projection; the whole conversion (See GP: "..I think any digital map that lets you zoom out more than a hundred miles or so should be an accurate 3D projection" and then the reply "I think Google Maps already does this at least") is about now on GMaps you can enable "globe" option, which uses a more accurate 3D projection. The video shows before/after enable globe option.
          • deleted 6y ago
            [deleted]
  • swebs 6y ago
    I remember it doing this as well. But I just tried it now and it doesn't anymore.
    • TulliusCicero 6y ago
      It's an option now. Toggle the globe icon.
    • ufmace 6y ago
      That's weird, me too, I could swear it used to do that. It doesn't do it now though, and I can't find any option to make it do that again. Oh well.
  • roelschroeven 6y ago
    It does if you enable "Globe" in the menu.
• chrisseaton 6y ago
  > I think any digital map that lets you zoom out more than a hundred miles or so should be an accurate 3D projection But there is no such thing as an 'accurate' 3D projection onto a 2D space is there? What do you want them to do?
  • aetherson 6y ago
    For a digital map, you can show a simulated globe (like what Google Maps does). If you have a world paper map, though, there's no real way around inaccuracies. You can trade off one inaccuracy for another, is all.
    • chrisseaton 6y ago
      Google Maps does not do what you are saying it does. Try it for yourself. Zoom out. Look at the size of Greenland. It’s just a variant of the conventional projection you’d use on paper. And even for systems that do adjust the projection based on where you’re looking, such as Google Earth, that simulated globe is still... just a projection. It’s got the same issues in that areas and sizes are distorted.
      • panic 6y ago
        Google Maps used to show a globe at low zooms by default: https://9to5google.com/2018/08/03/google-maps-globe-zoom-out/ https://9to5google.com/2018/08/03/google-maps-globe-zoom-out... Now you have to click a button to turn it on: https://old.reddit.com/r/GoogleMaps/comments/eoav6s/did_they_disable_the_globe/ https://old.reddit.com/r/GoogleMaps/comments/eoav6s/did_they...
        • chrisseaton 6y ago
          Look at the screenshot - notice how compressed Italy is? That’s a projection issue. The projection issues are still there.
          • xaduha 6y ago
• phendrenad2 6y ago
  It'll be a non-problem once VR is more accessible. I can imagine Google Maps in 3D (and pr Google Earth) will be a killer app that helps pushes VR forward.
  • ffggvv 6y ago
    google earth vr already exists and has for a while
  • jobigoud 6y ago
    Google Earth VR has existed since 2016 I think, it's normally the first thing I show people that want to try VR. You can be like Godzilla sized in famous cities, go see your childhood village, visit the world, it's a really great experience.
• Wistar 6y ago
  An oblate spheroid shaped globe for that extra degree of accuracy.