Обзор Spaces — комнатный мессенджер от Google. Обзор Spaces — комнатный мессенджер от Google Google в космосе

Editor’s note: Starting today, you can now explore the International Space Station in Street View in Google Maps. Thomas Pesquet , Astronaut at the European Space Agency (ESA), spent six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as a flight engineer. He returned to Earth in June 2017, and in this post he tells us about what it’s like to live on the ISS and his experience capturing Street View imagery in zero gravity.

In the six months that I spent on the International Space Station, it was difficult to find the words or take a picture that accurately describes the feeling of being in space. Working with Google on my latest mission, I captured Street View imagery to show what the ISS looks like from the inside, and share what it’s like to look down on Earth from outer space.

For 16 years, astronauts have been working and living on the ISS, a structure made up of 15 connected modules that floats 250 miles above Earth. The ISS acts as a base for space exploration-possible future missions to the Moon,Mars and asteroids-and gives us a unique perspective on Earth itself. We can collect data on the Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land surface. We can conduct experiments and studies that we wouldn’t be able to do from Earth, like monitoring how the human body reacts to microgravity, solving mysteries of the immune system , studying cyclones in order to alert populations and governments when a storm is approaching, or monitoring marine litter -the rapidly increasing amount of waste found in our oceans.

There were a few “firsts” on my mission. It was led by Peggy Whitson who, at age 56, became the oldest woman to fly into space and the first woman in history to command two expeditions. The mission was the first time Street View imagery was captured beyond planet Earth, and the first time annotations-helpful little notes that pop up as you explore the ISS-have been added to the imagery. They provide additional information or fun facts like where we work out to stay physically fit, what kind of food we eat, and where we conduct scientific experiments.

Because of the particular constraints of living and working in space, it wasn"t possible to collect Street View using Google"s usual methods. Instead, the Street View team worked with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama to design a gravity-free method of collecting the imagery using DSLR cameras and equipment already on the ISS. Then I collected still photos in space, that were sent down to Earth where they were stitched together to create panoramic 360 degree imagery of the ISS.

Node 2 (Harmony) Crew Quarters - Astronaut Sandra Magnus, Expedition 18 flight engineer, poses for a photo in her crew compartment.

We did a lot of troubleshooting before collecting the final imagery that you see today in Street View. The ISS has technical equipment on all surfaces, with lots of cables and a complicated layout with modules shooting off in all directions-left, right, up, down. And it’s a busy place, with six crew members carrying out research and maintenance activities 12 hours a day. There are a lot of obstacles up there, and we had limited time to capture the imagery, so we had to be confident that our approach would work. Oh, and there’s that whole zero gravity thing.

Joint Airlock (Quest) - This area contains space suits also known as Extravehicular Mobility Units. They provide crew members with life support that enables extravehicular activity.

Image copyright Google Image caption Street View allows users to move around 17 different areas in the space station

The International Space Station has become the first "off planet" addition to Google Maps" Street View facility.

Astronauts helped capture 360-degree panoramas of the insides of the ISS modules, as well as views down to the Earth below.

Some of the photography features pop-up text descriptions, marking the first time such annotations have appeared on the Maps platform.

This is not the first time 360-degree imagery has been captured beyond Earth.

However, one of the benefits of Google"s technology is that it should give members of the public an improved sense of freedom of movement and a greater choice of viewpoints than had been possible before.

Image copyright Google Image caption The windows of the ISS"s Cupola provide views down to Earth

The tech giant said it hoped to inspire the public to further explore the science and engineering involved in space exploration.

"Every component had to be flown on a space shuttle or rocket and constructed and connected in space, and it had to be done with such precision that it formed a hermetic environment to support life," project manager Alice Liu told the BBC.

"That is an engineering marvel that people should care about and know about."

Bungee cords

The firm said creating the latest Street View expansion had posed unique challenges.

Past efforts - including capturing underwater views of Australia"s Great Barrier Reef and elevated sights from Peru"s Machu Picchu citadel - involved transporting specialist camera equipment to the locations.

But the cost and certification processes that would have been required to do this for the ISS meant it was not practical this time, nor could the US company send its own staff to take the photographs.

Image copyright Google Image caption The tour includes access to the vehicle used to bring cargo on board the space centre

Instead, it had to rely on the astronauts already on board the ISS, who used digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras they already had to hand.

"Typically, to stitch panoramic images we take a camera and mount it on a fixed mount and rotate it around," explained Ms Liu.

"In space there were no tripods, so we ended up using a really simple set-up: a pair of bungee cords strapped in the module in a criss-cross fashion, so that the crossing point defined the centre of where the camera needed to be.

"The astronauts had to take the pictures at the defined angles and float around the camera to complete the set of images."

It took up to 24 such images to create a single panorama.

The astronauts had to fit the activity round their other duties and, from first snap to last image download to Google, the initiative lasted four months.

Image copyright Google Image caption Google has annotated points of interest on the panoramas

"There are a lot of obstacles up there, and we had limited time to capture the imagery," recalled astronaut Thomas Pesquet in a blog.

"Oh, and there"s that whole zero gravity thing."

The notes that pop up as the user moves among the station"s 15 modules provide background information about the equipment on display, and are intended to help make sense of what Google acknowledges can be a "confusing" experience.

Ms Liu confirmed the annotation technology could be rolled out to some of her firm"s other Street View locations in the future.

"But we are not planning on using it as a form of advertising," she added.

While the ISS tour might not provide Google the opportunity to make money in itself, one expert suggested it would help the firm keep its mapping products one step ahead of Apple and other rivals.

Image copyright Google Image caption The astronauts used cameras that were already on board the ISS to take the photos

"This feels like a cute marketing exercise that will keep Maps and Street View front and centre in consumers" minds," commented Ben Wood from the CCS tech consultancy.

"It adds a dimension of fun and one could argue also education, as it"s a tool you could see schools adopting if they are doing projects on space."

Google снова пытается сделать популярное социальное приложение. На этот раз компания выпустила Spaces - групповой мессенджер, в котором общение строится внутри тематических групп. Первый масштабный тест компания планирует провести на конференции Google I/O, создав отдельные «комнаты» для каждой сессии. Я разобрался, есть ли у приложения шансы на успех и пришел к неутешительным выводам.

Уже сейчас понятно - если компания может себе позволить презентовать отдельное приложение за неделю до начала главной Android-конференции года, то в закромах у Google еще немало разработок. С другой стороны, назвать Spaces выдающимся творением язык не поворачивается. Приложение использует урезанную функциональность подборок из Google+. Неудачная социальная сеть стала для «корпорации добра» классическим чемоданом без ручки, который она не может выбросить из-за вложенных усилий. Главная проблема «плюса» была в отсутствии пользовательской активности - туда попросту никто не заходил. В Spaces решили переосмыслить механику привлечения новых пользователей.

При первом запуске приложение попросило у меня войти под моим аккаунтом Google. Впрочем, глава направления Spaces Люк Вроблевски, заверил что для использования будет достаточно перейти по инвайт-ссылке, которая генерируется для каждой группы. На практике оказалось, что авторизоваться все равно необходимо.

Приложение позволяет быстро и удобно создавать группы и добавлять туда людей. Google рассчитывает, что пользователи станут создавать тематические обсуждения и организовывать внутри приложения мероприятия. Из «комнаты» можно отключить уведомления, изменить визуальное оформление или посмотреть авторов. При этом сменить роли участников невозможно.

Созданные темы группируются в одноименной вкладке, рядом с ней расположились Действия, где можно посмотреть актуальные уведомления. Центральная кнопка, которая вызывает стойкие ассоциации с логотипом Telegram, служит для публикации.
Доступны четыре типа материалов: ссылка, видео из YouTube, картинка и текст. Поиск по сети и видеохостингу доступен прямо внутри приложения, а вот поддержка Google Photo отсутствует - отправить можно снятые уже снимки. Разработчики также поленились интегрировать поддержку Google Drive.

Записи можно комментировать - стикерами, фотографиями или ссылками. Ответить на отдельный комментарий нельзя, удаление контента в приложении отсутствует напрочь. Всё, что опубликовано Spaces остается в Spaces. Зато практически отовсюду доступен поиск внутри приложения.

Итог

Во время использования этого странного мессенджера я испытывал чувство недоумения. Непонятно, что может заменить Spaces, он равноудален в функциональности от всех лидеров. Приложение не дотягивает до функциональности Slack, не может потягаться с Messenger в популярности. Специфическая организация комнат - интересная задумка, однако она теряется на фоне ботов, секретных чатов и супергрупп, которые может предложить . Складывается впечатление, что Google изолировала разработчиков Spaces от остального мира. Результатом их работы оказался нежизнеспособный сервис, который наверняка пополнит список закрытых проектов Google примерно через год.