Google Street View As Fast As Possible
Techquickie
·Techquickie
·2016-05-06
·
1,006 words · ~5 min read
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Google's mission to make the world's information universally accessible took
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an incredibly ambitious turn in 2007
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when they launched the Street View project to give users a glimpse into
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what places all over the world actually look like at street level everywhere
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from New Delhi to that Delhi down the
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street. But how were they able to capture images from so many places? The
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idea actually started out pretty simply. A special camera attached to the top of
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a car and lots and lots and lots of
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driving. Google initially worked with a company called Immersive Media to use a
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12sided camera that could replace early clunky prototypes that looked something
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like uh luggage sitting on a rack on top of your uncle's van. Shortly thereafter,
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Google was able to create its own cameras, which look like small spheres
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with lenses all over the outside, allowing Google to capture 360° views of
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streets and landmarks as the vehicle was in motion. These cameras also contained
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no moving parts to allow them to be more reliable out in the field, especially
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important for driving through areas with extreme climate conditions. They also
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feature lasers that scan the environment to create 3D models that allow people
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using Street View to doubleclick on a spot that they want to see and have the
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service show them that particular point accurately. After these cameras take
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pictures of their surroundings, images from the individual lenses are stitched
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together to create one continuous panoramic shot that you can scroll
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around in easily in street view. While most shots come out looking decent, you
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do occasionally see instances where the stitching didn't exactly work as
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intended, which come out as street signs that are cut in half or even people that
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appear to be missing arms or heads. Yikes. But despite the minor hiccups,
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Street View continued to expand both its camera technology and its footprint
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around the globe. Currently, Google not only has a standard fleet of cars to
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capture street view images, but also a special backpack with a similar camera
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attached to allow users to see views of hardto-reach places. A trolley that's
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been used to provide looks inside places like museums and stadiums, tricycles for
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narrow streets like you might find in Europe, and even snowmobiles that have
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been used at the Winter Olympic Games. Partly due to the versatility of
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Google's camera technology, they've been able to add more and more locations
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around the Earth every year. And although the project started out just
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covering major urban areas in the United States, Street View now has images of
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public streets and roads in over 80 countries and dependencies and views of
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landmarks in many, many more. Users are
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now also able to submit their own panoramic shots, adding to Street View's
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presence, especially in areas where Google hasn't taken their cameras yet.
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Street View also now works with Google Cardboard, allowing you to experience
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locations around the world in virtual reality with your smartphone. Not a bad
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idea if you really wanted to see some far-off location, but uh can't afford to
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get on a plane. But as useful as Street View has been, many have expressed
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concerns over privacy. After all, the whole project is based around recording
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everything that it can in public view.
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Generally speaking, people have little to no legal expectation of privacy when
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they're driving or walking on a public street. Although Google has had to
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settle legal disputes in a few places over this issue, they've had a
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long-standing policy of trying to blur things like faces or license plates that
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its cameras capture, especially with Street View getting looks at uh people
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engaged in some questionable activities.
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But even with Google's attempts to at least somewhat protect the privacy of
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the people its cameras see, I still wouldn't recommend, you know, being out
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on your lawn nude sunbathing if you know that there's a street view car in the
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get screwed over on something like that. It allows you to not only send the
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invoices, but see if the customer has viewed it and request payment directly
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through the app and just generally continues to improve over time. And the
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and entering techquicky in the how did you hear about us section. Try it out.
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So simple, right?