Most of us are dependent on GPS to navigate city streets throughout the world, and Google Maps ubiquity (and free price tag) have helped make it one of the more popular options. That does mean the internet giant needs to constantly update the navigation platform to ensure the information it presents is current.

With new developments on the rise around the country, Google Australia has today announced that a new fleet of eight Street View cars that use updated camera technology will take to the streets this week.

This is the first time in eight years that Google has updated the camera technology in its Street View cars, which the company says will allow the cars to capture “higher quality 360-degree imagery”.

According to a blog post on Google Australia’s site, the new “cutting-edge cameras fitted to our Street View cars will allow us to capture higher quality, sharper imagery and in low light conditions across Australia”.

The new mapping will begin in Sydney and Melbourne first, with the cars heading to other states in the coming months. The updated images will be available via Street View later in the year.

While Google Australia is keeping mum about where exactly the cars are headed, and when, you can follow the fleet’s journey on the Google Maps Street View site.

Street View, available on Google Maps and Google Earth, has been offering users panoramic views along the streets of the world since 2007. It gives millions of travellers the opportunity to research places they’re planning visit beforehand, or to just experience what a place is like – from street level – if they can’t get there in person.