In Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and the vicinity of these large cities, Apple employees with camera backpacks could soon attract attention.
With their recordings, the technology group wants to improve its Apple Maps pre-installed on iPhones and Mac computers, as the company announced.
Apple's maps meanwhile offer a similar function under the name “Look Around” as Google Maps introduced them as “Street View”: You can virtually move along streets and look at them in photos.
Pedestrians take photos in places inaccessible to camera cars. The dpa news agency reported that there were "a few dozen" people who are said to be out and about in pedestrian zones, parks and train stations. The recordings should begin on July 26th and should last until the end of September.
According to Apple's announcement, camera-car trips began as early as the spring to image the map service. Apple brought such cars to Germany for the first time two years ago. Similar to the cars, the rucksacks are equipped with several cameras and a laser radar that can scan the surroundings even in poor visibility. As with the pictures of the camera cars, faces and license plates are made unrecognizable by default, Apple announced. Residents can request that their house be pixelated in the recordings. The message from Apple shows where the backpack photographers are.
Berlin, Hamburg and Munich were selected for the start, among other things, because they appeared to be good cities to test the technology, it said.
In addition, there are places where it is difficult to take high-resolution images for the map service in other ways.
However, there are no plans to cover the entire area of pedestrian areas in these cities.
Instead, they will focus on important places.
Google also uses camera backpacks for recordings to improve its map services - but also large tricycles.
The group will also be on the road in all German federal states until October to take current photos for Google Maps and “Street View”.
He also provides a website that shows when and where photos are taken.