There was no official post or announcement that I was able to find, but I stumbled upon the launch of Google’s new “Street View” imagery (screen shots below). Clicking the “Street View” button (upper right) outlines blue streets for which Google has photography. You can then drag a “person” icon to the street you want to see and launch a window that offers, well, a street-level view. You can also navigate within the images to adjacent areas and expand to a full-screen view.
Upon my very quick look at this it appears to be a more refined version of what A9 did with block view.
Here are some screen shots:
We’ll post more later as we have a chance to dig into this and I learn more from Google.
Postscript Barry Schwartz: I made a quick video of how it works for my personal blog, here it is:
Related Topics: Google: Maps & Local
Hey Greg,
Last week on ResourceShelf we put together a selected list of sites and tools offering either street-level and/or 360 degree imagery. Here are a few highlights. The complete post here.
+++ PagesJaunes continues to provide gorgeous street-level imagery for major cities in France and Spain. This feature has been available for several years.
++ Digital Maps and Imagery: 360 Degree Location Views and Virtual Walks from SuperTour
++ Immersive Media is Building: 360-degree views of Surroundings
+ Super Cool! Immersive Media Demos
++ 360 Degree Street Level Views From Various European Locations
++ CycloMedia
Netherlands-based company offering 360 degree panoramic views. Several demos available.
++ Mappy.com (a great map/directions site, part of PagesJuanes) also offers MappyVisiocity (both free and for commercial use). Street-level imagery for 30 European cities, more than 6 million images. Learn more about Visiocity here (4 pages; PDF).
Wow…I remember 4 years ago when I saw the prototype and was playing with it due to the fact that the CEO/President of Immersive was basically my uncle (close family friend/my father’s best man at his wedding with my mom). I never imagined it would revolutionize so much and really create a frenzy. The prototype was far different from what it looks like now but I remember not thinking much of it. What’s amazing is the idea of the different levels of potential for this great technology. Imagine a digital ad network/marketplace for street-level ads as well as sponsored links and such built into the core of these systems.
There’s so much coming and this is terribly cool.
I added here the best Google Street View.
I added here the most amazing Street View.
I added here some amazing Street View from the last update (08/2007).