What's Off in This Google Earth Image of Mid-Town NYC?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around an unusual Google Earth image of mid-town NYC, focusing on the apparent leaning of buildings and the potential reasons behind this phenomenon. Participants explore various theories regarding image manipulation, stitching of photos from different angles, and the implications of using aerial imagery.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that the buildings appear to lean in opposite directions, prompting speculation about the image's authenticity.
  • Several logical explanations are proposed, including the possibility of image manipulation or the use of photos taken from different aerial viewpoints.
  • Participants mention that Google's high-resolution imagery is created from mosaics of various aerial photos, which may lead to discrepancies in angles and shadows.
  • Some express curiosity about the effects of ground sinking or gravitational waves, while others humorously reference Escher's artwork in relation to the image's oddities.
  • There is mention of the potential for different times of day affecting shadows, indicating that the composite image could be a result of photos taken at different times.
  • One participant notes that stitching images can sometimes lead to visible discrepancies, such as seasonal differences in the same image.
  • Concerns are raised about the effectiveness of software used for stitching images, questioning how it would handle significant differences in the photos being combined.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the cause of the image's peculiarities, with multiple competing views and theories remaining throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the lack of clarity on the specific sources of the images and the potential for varying definitions of what constitutes manipulation or stitching. The discussion also reflects uncertainty about the implications of different satellite positions and their effects on the imagery.

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Google Earth image of mid-town NYC

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/2357/whatswronghereuy0.jpg

Rockefeller center is in the middle of the picture.
 
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Buildings seem to lean in opposite ways?
 
I can think of several logical explanations for the weird image.

Perhaps it is manipulated? Each section represents a distinct difference in angle.

http://www.filehive.com/files/0523/lined.png

It is true that strong winds can move the top of the larger buildings several meters, but I'm not sure that sounds reasonable from the image. It also would not explain how tow buildings standing next to each other would sway in different ways.

Images compiled from different sources or points in time?
 
Yeah, looks like photos from different aerial viewpoints have been stitched together, last time I checked these were pretty low-range photos taken from aircraft rather than satellite images or anything too fancy.

The shadows looks right though...
 
The guy is the NY Giants cap is jaywalking at the corner of 52nd and Madison.
 
Google's high res imagery is done by making mosaics of lots of different aerial photos, so angles will often seem a bit off. Just to confuse things more, the photos aren't always from the same date, so you can pass between up to date photos and those several years old without knowing.
 
Moridin said:
Perhaps it is manipulated? Each section represents a distinct difference in angle.

Images compiled from different sources or points in time?
Different satellite positions, which means different orbits/different times. There could be sequential frames which would have different angles E-W orientation, the different N-S angles indicate different orbit assuming the same camera orientation.

Shadows are different, so that clearly means different time of day or different days.

The composite certainly could be 'manipulated' from different satellites.
 
Ground sinking in NYC?
Gravitational wave passing?
Escher works on Google Maps?
Buildings lean according to political affiliation?

It might interesting to see the scene from a different viewpoint (i.e. not overhead)... of course, without the 3D building layer.
 
  • #10
BobG said:
The guy is the NY Giants cap is jaywalking at the corner of 52nd and Madison.
:smile: Good eyes, Eagle Eye Bob!
 
  • #11
robphy said:
Escher works on Google Maps?

:smile: The images on Google Maps are not live images, they're composites of many images, often taken from different angles and times of day. Where my house is, Google Maps still shows a big clearing of dirt from 3 years ago when construction started here. There are a lot of places where high resolution images aren't available yet, and they get patched in as they get them. In all likelihood, they had several aerial photos of NYC, but then a gap was left for Rockefeller Center, so a single photo of that block was added between the other stitched-together images.

I do agree that it's very Escher-esque though. :biggrin:
 
  • #12
Normally you can very clearly see the stitching, sometimes you can see summer and winter scenes next to each other in the same image :smile: the guy that stitched this image back together really must be a perfectionist: at the first eye nothing is wrong with the picture, even when looking closer you cannot see any stitch lines, the fact that the picture leaves you a bit 3d-disoriented is the only clue that something is wrong :biggrin:
 
  • #13
  • #14
That definitely is an amazing picture, but it doesn't take a geneious to put it back together: there is special software that can piece together an image when there is about 20% overlap at the edges.
I doubt that is being done with the Google images, since the pictures are so different. How would the software know that the building that is leaning over the wrong way should be projected over the street of the picture next to it and not under the street?
 
  • #15
If you want some fancy stitching in 3D, check out
http://labs.live.com/photosynth/ , a preview from Microsoft.
(Don't run this on an old or slow computer.)
 
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