"Street View ready" specifications

Introduction

These specs detail all hardware and data requirements for cameras and/or publishing utilities that upload to Street View. (Please note that this program does not apply to any operational or mechanical functions.)

For products that are not bundled with a camera, only specifications in and below the section “Software Implementation” will be applicable.

Imagery

  • ≥4K at ≥5FPS
  • 360° horizontal FOV
  • ≥120°, contiguous vertical FOV
  • On-device stitching
  • Google will review image and geometry quality

Camera architecture

The six degrees of freedom (6-DOF) transformation (relative position and orientation) between each sensor’s and each camera’s frame of reference (FOR) must be specified with respect to the accelerometer FOR. The sensor FOR must be as defined in the sensor’s data sheet and aligned with the sensor’s physical placement in the device. The FOR for each camera has the positive z-axis pointing away from the device into the field of view of the camera along the optical axis, the x-axis points to the right, the y-axis points down from top to bottom, and the origin of the FOR is at the camera’s optical center.

The 6-DOF transformation (3-DOF for position and 3-DOF for orientation) of each sensor or camera is represented as a 3x4 transformation matrix T = [R p], where R is the 3x3 rotation matrix representing the orientation of the sensor or camera FOR in the accelerometer FOR, and p is the 3x1 position vector (x, y, z) in meters representing the origin of the sensor or camera FOR in the accelerometer FOR.

The requested transformations can be from a computer-aided design (CAD) model of the device and do not need to be device-specific to account for manufacturing variations.

Video requirements

You must fill in the following user-data atoms in your MP4 360 video:

  • moov/udta/manu: Camera manufacturer (make) as a string
  • moov/udta/modl: Camera model as a string
  • moov/udta/meta/ilst/FIRM: Firmware version as a string
You can verify your video with ffprobe command: 
$ ffprobe your_video.mp4
...
  Metadata:
    make            : my.camera.make
    model           : my.camera.model
    firmware        : v_1234.4321
...

Software implementation

Support for upload via the Street View Publish API is required. Please note that all requests to the API must be authenticated as described here. here.

For all imagery uploaded to Street View:

  • imagery creation time (i.e. when the imagery was captured) must be specified.
  • product’s make, model, and firmware version must be reported.
  • motion stabilization must be turned off.
  • raw GPS data must be shared (measurements must be accurately timestamped with respect to when the measurement was taken, not when received).

For all 360 videos uploaded to Street View:

  • telemetry data must be communicated using Camera Motion Metadata Camera Motion Metadata.
  • the photo sequence must be encoded with the correct frame rate at which the video was captured.

Please also include the following language and line within your application prior to the user publishing (at least the first time):

“This content will be public on Google Maps and may also appear in other Google products. You can learn more about the Maps User Contributed Content Policy here.”

Product evaluation

If you are interested in, or have questions about getting your product evaluated, please contact us here. Note that access to methods and documentation for 360 video support in the Street View Publish API is currently (May 2018) by invitation only. Please use the form linked above to request access.

Our review is comprised of the following stages: your testing, our testing, beta user testing, and approval. In each stage, we will evaluate your product’s image quality, telemetry data, metadata, and workflow using the respective test data sets: data that you share, that we create, or that your beta users submit (please see below for example test set, subject to change).

  • Still photos
    • Five 360 photos, indoors
    • Five 360 photos, outdoors (sunny, if possible)
    • Five 360 photos, outdoors (shaded or overcast, if possible)
  • In motion (approx. 5mph or 8kph, when applicable)
    • Five 10-minute videos (at 5fps) in a rural setting
    • Five 10-minute videos (at 5fps) in a suburban setting
    • Five 10-minute videos (at 5fps) in an urban setting

Your testing

As a first step, please share with us the Google Maps-published links to your test imagery, and please remember to test across a reasonable spectrum of devices and operating systems that your product supports as well as on various network conditions (e.g. home, office, outdoors).

Our testing

Following the successful completion of your testing, Google will commence their tests, in close communication with your team. To help us get started, please provide instructions for how to capture and/or upload imagery to Street View.

User testing

Once both your and our tests have been successfully completed, please engage at least 5 beta users for a testing period of 1-2 weeks to cover a minimum set of tests. If you need help connecting with testers, please let us know, as we may be able to put you in touch with interested users. Note that you will be responsible for coordination (including, but not limited to, logistics and support) with the testers.

Approval

Following positive results from testing, you will be requested to share your launch plan, including any Street View-specific support and promotional content (web-based or otherwise). We will review your materials and share our feedback promptly.

As you develop these materials, please remember to adhere to our branding guidelines.

Upon approval, you will be welcome to use our Street View ready badge and market your product as compatible with Street View, subject to the above guidelines. Please note, for each approved camera, we may feature your camera and/or surface imagery from your product in our marketing materials as representative of the camera’s capabilities.