Google Maps Takin’ It to the Streets [View]
Alan Levine aka CogDog barked this May 31st, 2007 10:57 am
I’m only one of billions who loves Google Maps. They find things, you can overlay satellite images. But what if you could really peek in an see what is there?
Now you can* with the Street View option (*in limited areas). You can place a little icon person on the map, and get a fully navigable view of what is in the street! Because the example I saw was in Manhattan, and for a friend traveling there I had been trying to remember a funky bar I used to frequent as a college student there for a summer in the 1980s, I took a tour…. But I could not remember the address of the “Ear Bar” (outside hung a neon sign that read “BAR” and part of it was painted black so it light up as “EAR”.
So a little Google search found the address as 326 Spring Street. I go there in Google Maps, and click the Street View map option, and it shows all image enabled streets marked in blie, and Spring Street near the Hudson is lit up. I click my marker there, move west on the street to get near, pivot, and I can see the freakin’ Bar!
I can pivot the view, zoom on, and use the directional arrows to move the camera east and west on the street. This is just amazing, and takes maps to a whole new level where you can see what is at a mapped location (concerns of spying aside.. for now, just play!)
For some more information on this, see the story at Google Blogscoped where there is also some info on new gadgets called “Mapplets”. See also a story at O’Reilly Radar.
Images come from Immersive Media — but where are all these camera?
Linktribution to this find via a random wandering of kotke’s remaindered links
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite
- Inner City Students Navigate More than Crowded Streets
- Help Us Step Into the 21st Century!
- A View from Above, Analysis Below
May 31st, 2007 at 1:16 pm
why does Street View obey traffic laws? I can’t go the wrong way down a one-way, or turn the wrong way onto one…
very impressive though. photos every 50 feet or so? that’s a lot of data…
May 31st, 2007 at 8:23 pm
I just love being the inspiration for all this creative wizardry. Makes me feel like I better keep traveling just to see what other funky apps you guys come up with.
I’m hoping to hit the Ear bar tomorrow. It’s my last day in Manhattan, then onto to the outer boroughs for the weekend- Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Though thanks to Jim I’ve already been to Brooklyn twice. How many tourists staying in a Times Square hotel can claim that?
Thanks Alan.
June 1st, 2007 at 7:04 am
Here is the answer to your camera question: http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2007/05/technology_behind_go.html
June 1st, 2007 at 8:00 am
That’s cool Keira, cannot wait to hear about it. When I hung out there, it did not have that heavy scaffolding, and they had these large wooden utility wire spools out in front for tables… have to dig up an embarrassing old photo. Happy travels!
June 1st, 2007 at 8:03 am
Thanks for the link, J.D.- awesome video demo
March 23rd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
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