Google Maps has announced Photo Tour feature that presents 3D Photos of selected landmark.

According to Google Lat Long Blog, photo tours are available for more than 15,000 popular sites around the world, from famous landmarks such as St. Mark’s Basilica in Italy to scenic treasures like Half Dome in Yosemite.

How Google produces the 3D Photo Tours:

Google use advanced computer vision techniques to create a 3D experience from public, user-contributed Picasa and Panaromio photos. Initially, clusters of overlapping photos around major landmarks are identified. The their system derives the 3D shape of each landmark and computes the location and orientation of each photo. Google Maps then selects a path through the best images, and adds 3D transitions to seamlessly guide from photo to photo as if the user is literally flying around the landmark and viewing it from different perspectives