You would think after what Apple went through with its Maps application which was released on iOS 6, they would try to copy Google a lot less considering how much everyone, even Apple themselves , hated the results. But it looks as though they may be following in Google’s footsteps as a new patent was filed by Apple showing something that looks a lot like Google Street View.
Apple’s “3D Position Tracking for Panoramic Imagery Navigation” was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently and it describes a user interface, which when combine with the iPhone or iPad’s sensors, will allow the user to navigate a panoramic image. Apple’s filing hints at possibly improving current technology which has users jumping to a panoramic “bubble” towards a given intersection to then pan within the bubble to view and move towards a location. Apple wants to improve on this experience by using a combination of data from their iOS device’s accelerometers, cameras, gyroscopes and additional sensors to “move” the user through a virtual street-level panoramic image.
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