Unlike the human head, the earth actually is nearly spherical. There’s got to be some differences in how spherical projections work when the object actually is a sphere, I would think. I know that 2D maps are distorted, but are globes actually this distorted as well? Never knew that, if so.
Edit:
After reflecting on it for a minute, I see they’re demonstrating forms of 2D map distortion. The way depth is represented is variable. With modern concepts of 3D imagery, we must have solved this distortion problem. If you open up Google Earth’s globe, it doesn’t have such distortion.
With modern concepts of 3D imagery, we must have solved this distortion problem.
? You’re still taking a three dimensional earth and displaying it on a 2d screen or plane. That will always have distortion on some axes. That’s not a technological “problem” to be “solved”, that’s just mathematical reality.
All 2D projections are distorted, but some are useful in certain contexts (yes, even Mercator, though not for viewing the entire globe at once). Google Earth is still projecting the image of a globe onto a 2D screen, and there are distortions.
Here’s South America straight on in Google Map’s globe view:
And South America from the side:
If you measure the distances between, say, Manaus and La Paz with your fingers in these pictures, you’ll get different answers. That’s just how translating a 3D object to a 2D image works; you can’t flatten a globe into a piece of paper without breaking something.
Unlike the human head, the earth actually is nearly spherical. There’s got to be some differences in how spherical projections work when the object actually is a sphere, I would think. I know that 2D maps are distorted, but are globes actually this distorted as well? Never knew that, if so.
Edit: After reflecting on it for a minute, I see they’re demonstrating forms of 2D map distortion. The way depth is represented is variable. With modern concepts of 3D imagery, we must have solved this distortion problem. If you open up Google Earth’s globe, it doesn’t have such distortion.
? You’re still taking a three dimensional earth and displaying it on a 2d screen or plane. That will always have distortion on some axes. That’s not a technological “problem” to be “solved”, that’s just mathematical reality.
All 2D projections are distorted, but some are useful in certain contexts (yes, even Mercator, though not for viewing the entire globe at once). Google Earth is still projecting the image of a globe onto a 2D screen, and there are distortions.
Here’s South America straight on in Google Map’s globe view:
And South America from the side:
If you measure the distances between, say, Manaus and La Paz with your fingers in these pictures, you’ll get different answers. That’s just how translating a 3D object to a 2D image works; you can’t flatten a globe into a piece of paper without breaking something.