Google street views of Dubai to be seen worldwide

People across the globe will soon be able to explore panoramic views of the streets of Dubai using Google Maps.

The tech giant confirmed to  that it is bringing its Street View imagery to the emirate, making it the first city in the Middle East to launch the service. Street View, a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth, provides 360-degree views of several streets across more than 3,000 cities in over 50 countries. The technology was launched in 2007.

Google also displayed its famous Street View car, used to collect images, at the UAE Government Summit this week.

Peter Barron, director of communications for Google in Europe, Middle East and Africa, who represented Google at the Summit, told  “We brought it to showcase technology and innovation at its best. This car captures 360 panoramic images of streets around the world and the imagery is shared online with more than a billion monthly active users who use Google Maps.”

Rumours of the arrival of the service had been abuzz after pictures of the trekker spotted driving on Dubai roads went viral on Twitter earlier this month. Google’s Street View website also listed Dubai as one of the cities where they were “currently driving”.

Google also confirmed that it pitched plans to the UAE government during the Summit.

“We gave them a lot of different ideas of how we can integrate with smart cities – so things like where we do wireless Internet everywhere as well as Google Maps, indoor and outdoor mapping, more Street View, products like Field Trip. But we haven’t signed anything or agreed to anything yet,” Maha Abouelenein, head of communications for Google in MENA.

Barron believes Maps poses great opportunities for the tourism sector. He added: “Indoor mapping in Dubai is a huge opportunity. Imagine having a map within Dubai Mall.”

Last year, Google took Street View to the top of its very first skyscraper, the world’s tallest manmade structure, the Burj Khalifa. The imagery was collected over three days using the Street View Trekker and Trolley, capturing high-res panoramic images of several indoor and outdoor locations of the building. Google’s view even allows online visitors to see what it feels like to hang off one of the building’s maintenance units on the 80th floor, normally used for cleaning windows.