\n<\/p>\n
A Street View frame shows a boxy white house in Porto, Portugal, with a terracotta roof, modest green lawn and long gray driveway stretching down its side. A figure can be seen at the driveway\u2019s end, left knee on the cement and hands busy behind a small wheelbarrow, slightly blurred as if painted in watercolor.<\/p>\n
For many, it would be an unremarkable image, but for Google software engineer Andr\u00e9 Santos it\u2019s a treasure \u2014 one that might have stayed buried if not for a mix of fate, technology and curiosity.<\/p>\n
In early 2023, Andr\u00e9\u2019s parents installed solar panels, and when the government announced \u20ac30 million worth of grants for people who had taken steps to make their homes more energy efficient, he decided to apply on their behalf. He just needed photographic proof the work took place after May 2022. \u201cGetting the after<\/i> photo would be easy enough,\u201d Andr\u00e9 says. \u201cBut we didn\u2019t have any past photos that clearly showed the outside of the house before<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recalling his time exploring neighborhoods he was considering moving into on Google Maps, an idea struck. \u201cI remembered you could click on snapshots of past Street View images of an area,\u201d Andr\u00e9 says. He took his laptop to his parents\u2019 house and typed their address into Maps. The most recent image, from April 2023, already captured the solar panels on the roof, so he selected \u201csee more dates\u201d and found a picture taken in July 2022. Voila<\/i>: no panels.<\/p>\n
His parents, impressed by the feature, asked to see a before-and-after of a recent house renovation. Andr\u00e9 went further, clicking on the oldest available Street View image of the address from September 2009. As it loaded, his parents stopped talking; Andr\u00e9, too, fell quiet. The trio\u2019s eyes were drawn to that hazy figure at the back of the driveway. \u201cIt was my grandfather, Joaquim,\u201d Andr\u00e9 says. \u201cHe\u2019d passed away a year before.\u201d Andr\u00e9\u2019s mom, who was especially close to her father-in-law, softly broke the silence: \u201cI miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n