Information technology and cartography: Google has improved its cartographic service Google Maps

Google has improved the mechanism of the interactive mapping service Google Maps, adding a three-dimensional graphics and the increasingly popular standard WebGL. The company now offers a MapsGL option for displaying three-dimensional buildings that are implemented by means of WebGL.

According to the company’s representatives, the move represents the next stage of development of Google Maps and replacement of Google Earth, released in 2004, which allowed initially three-dimensional navigation owing to a special client software.

The company also stressed that the Android-version of Google Maps service also supports the display of 3D-buildings. In addition, a new version of Google Maps now supports smooth transitions between the mode of an ordinary map and that of a Street View. By implementing WebGL, users can now rotate maps more smoothly and navigate in any direction. For some regions is available a semi-interactive map viewing at an angle of 45 degrees.