TEMPO.CO, California - Google presents a new time-machine feature in the Google Street View, allowing users to travel back in time and see how places have changed. The feature lets users track changes in landscape, buildings, roads and the entire neighborhood from around the world since the Street View mapping program began in 2007.

According to the Guardian, users can now click on a clock icon on the corner of the screen when using Street View on Google Maps, changing the year and even season of the area or building they are currently looking.

"If you have ever dreamed of being a time traveler like Doc Brown, now is your chance," said Google Street View product manager, Vinay Shet, on a blog post. "We have gathered historical imagery from past Street View collections dating back to 2007 to create this digital time capsule of the world."

Shet later mentioned that Google's Street View uses car-mounted cameras to capture street-level photos of the world. "Now with Street View, you can see a landmark's growth from the ground up, like the Freedom Tower in New York city or the 2014 World Cup stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil," he said.

Street View was initially designed as a way of visualizing directions. However, the service has become increasingly popular among "armchair explorers", who have used Street View to discover far away parts of the world without ever leaving home.

THE GUARDIAN | SATWIKA MOVEMENTI