Google Inc. headquartered in California U.S., announced today that it will start driving through Gozo and Malta to improve the quality of Google Maps and collect imagery for its popular Street View feature.

From Monday, Google cars will begin driving and taking 360 degree photographs of many locations throughout Gozo Malta, including heritage and touristic attractions such as the coastal area.

Street View is a hugely popular feature of Google Maps which was launched in May 2007 and is currently available across 77 countries. It allows users to virtually explore and navigate a neighbourhood through panoramic street-level images.

Google plans to start driving in Valletta, and will soon expand to other cities and villages. In total, it is planned to cover as much as possible of the road network starting from 19th September until the end of October.

Google said that driving schedules often depend on various factors like weather, road closures, etc. Therefore permanent updates on Street View car locations as well as general information about Street View will be provided on the website as soon as driving starts.

Images collected will be processed and carefully stitched together, a technological process that can take several months. Users will be able to explore the imagery at a later date on Google Maps.

Google said that it applies state-of-the-art technology to help identify and blur individual faces and licence plates on any imagery before it is made public.

"Once Street View imagery is available online, users can ask for further blurring," it said.

Reporting an issue can be done by just clicking or tapping "Report a problem" in the bottom-right of the image window or in Google Maps app, from the flag or menu buttons.

Photograph by Google

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