Google maps is great, for similar reasons other maps are good. It's essentially a top down 2D reconstruction of the physical world. Some attempts to add a sort of pseudo 3D effect have been added, but they're not that useful or impressive.

Now, the real world is travelling in time, forwards, at the rate of roughly one hour per hour. What if we added a scroll-able time axis to google maps. This would operate, by, say, holding down the "t" key and scrolling your mouse. The map would then move in time. For example, if a building were scheduled for demolition it would disappear as you moved through the correct date. A new road might open. On a smaller scale, shops would open and close as you moved through their business hours, or perhaps a cafe would change to a late night bar.
-- bs0u0155, Nov 18 2014

This is entirely baked in Google Earth.
-- RayfordSteele, Nov 18 2014


I've seen an add-on for Google Earth which allows for continental drift. Presumably this is similar but more finely tuned. I imagine it can be done and that it is done.
-- nineteenthly, Nov 22 2014



random, halfbakery