08 May 2008

Google Maps Street View

If you haven't seen this yet, it will blow your mind. It's called Street View on Google Maps.

Apparently, Google started this in May 2007, but only documented 5 cities (one of them was Denver). Over the past year they have they added more cities, Spokane being one of them.

Here's what they did. They mounted a 360 degree camera on the top of a car and drove it through almost every street of the selected city, taking a picture every second or so. They then complied the pictures together and integrated it into Google Maps. The result is a virtual 360 degree interactive tour of any street in that city.

For example, go to Google Maps and search for 378 W 18th Ave, Spokane, WA 99203. Click on "Street View" underneath the thumbnail picture. You should see a picture of a green-roofed house with red steps. That's Stacey's old house! If you don't see it, grab the picture with your mouse and move it until you are facing the other way. You can zoom in and out of any location. You can click on the arrows to move up and down the street as you want. You are now "virtually" in Spokane and can take a walk through any street in town that is highlighted in blue!

Orient the camera so that you are looking down the street. Grab the picture and drag it so you are looking down at the pavement. You should see the car it was mounted on! I had fun looking up my old apartment as well as "driving" around some of the old places I used to go. If you want to know which cities have been documented, just go to the main Google Maps page (you should see the United States) and click on Street View. Cameras of the documented cities should appear.

Have fun sightseeing in your underwear.