Google Maps Street View

[codyg1985]

They should decide to do what Disney does, and take old street view shots out of the "vault" a few decades from now, with a bunch of hype attached.

Somebody needs to do a cheesy parody of the Disney commercials for the old street view shots.

[empirestate]

They definitely did Nassau County, NY. Coulda used that when I was compiling my county route list there...

[dfilpus]

Last summer I drove past a Streetview car in west Durham NC. My car shows up in two Streetview images there now.

[DSS5]

They updated Boone, NC. I would have never realized if not for this thread. Awesome! 

Now they just need some new aerial imagery to replace the 5-year-old low-res mess that they have for the area now.

[vdeane]

I'd like for them to put in new imagery for Massena, NY/Cornwall, ON; they still show the old border crossing!

[andrewkbrown]

Sometimes the Google camera vehicle is pulling a trailer.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=35.730706,-81.363566&spn=0.003584,0.005284&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=35.730635,-81.364567&panoid=G3XFuvHO-KhVhlOvknuyqQ&cbp=12,354.52,,0,14.23

[Zmapper]

Bump, as I observed a Street View car up close.

I encountered a Street View car in a parking lot yesterday. I walked around the car peering into the windows for about a minute or two, before the driver exited the building to their car. The driver stated that they worked for a temp agency as opposed to Google Directly, and didn't seemed too pleased that I was taking pictures of the car while they were inside a nearby business.

Of note is the California license plate, despite being in Colorado. Inside, the rear seat is cluttered with cardboard boxes. In the passenger seat, a Netgear wireless router is on the floor, with a desktop monitor and keyboard precariously sitting on the actual seat. Two "cord tubes" protrude from the top of the right-rear window to the camera unit attached on top of the vehicle. Due to the rain (which is also why I don't have any presentable pictures; the camera kept focusing on the rain drops), the camera unit was covered with a black fitted cover.

[roadman65]

 I thought this here photo taken along US 9W at the NY-NJ Border is an interesting find of the Welcome To New York sign bent over backwards off its moorings.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.001358,-73.911717,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1syULTepP62MhnVsGODfiITw!2e0

I thought that I would make a thread for any other interesting finds on Google that anyone here has noticed.

[adventurernumber1]

The reason some images are blurry and some aren't is because some images are older than others. Many images taken around 2007-2010 are a little blurry, but images taken 2011-present are much less blurry. But Google Maps Street View is very convenient for the most part and I love it.

[mgk920]

The reason some images are blurry and some aren't is because some images are older than others. Many images taken around 2007-2010 are a little blurry, but images taken 2011-present are much less blurry. But Google Maps Street View is very convenient for the most part and I love it.

They do use much higher resolution camera rigs now compared to a few years ago, but they also use software that automatically 'fuzzes' things that look (to the program) to be either license plates or human faces.  Thus you'll also see signs that are mysteriously fuzzed.

Mike

[Jim920]

The reason some images are blurry and some aren't is because some images are older than others. Many images taken around 2007-2010 are a little blurry, but images taken 2011-present are much less blurry. But Google Maps Street View is very convenient for the most part and I love it.

They do use much higher resolution camera rigs now compared to a few years ago, but they also use software that automatically 'fuzzes' things that look (to the program) to be either license plates or human faces.  Thus you'll also see signs that are mysteriously fuzzed.

Mike

I actually came across a street view where the person's face was not blurred out.  I found it last week but for the life of me I can't remember where is was!  The area was under construction and a worker was inside a tunnel sitting on some sort of metal truss., he had a look of "what the..?"

Edit:  I remember! Brisbane, Australia   http://goo.gl/maps/TPJM8

[DaBigE]

The reason some images are blurry and some aren't is because some images are older than others. Many images taken around 2007-2010 are a little blurry, but images taken 2011-present are much less blurry. But Google Maps Street View is very convenient for the most part and I love it.

They do use much higher resolution camera rigs now compared to a few years ago, but they also use software that automatically 'fuzzes' things that look (to the program) to be either license plates or human faces.  Thus you'll also see signs that are mysteriously fuzzed.

Mike

I love the new resolution, but I despise the blurring of most street signs. It makes doing a quick existing sign check for a project very difficult.

[vdeane]

In the event of sign blue I'm usually able to go backwards and zoom in to get a clear picture.  Not always though.  Vermont state highway shields are particularly problematic.

[empirestate]

Since this seems to be the thread for sightings of the Google StreetView car...well, I've never spotted it in the field yet. However, I did just now spot the Apple Maps van, which is their version of the same thing! It was in Putnam Valley, NY, some 50 miles north of NYC, which is one place where they've announced they'll be collecting data.

[bandit957]

Since this seems to be the thread for sightings of the Google StreetView car...well, I've never spotted it in the field yet.

I spotted it once while I was participating in a protest. I thought the protest would appear on Street View, but it did not.

[BamaZeus]

It went through our business parking lot the other day and seemed to do the same at the next strip shopping center down.  I had never seen the GSV car actually enter a parking lot just to dart out the other side before.  I wonder if they were trying to get closeups for the business names, but half the time they blur those out anyway.

[intelati49]

Just found this oddity today. I don't think you're supposed to be there Google

Is this the right thread for "Google Street view oddities"?

[iBallasticwolf2]

Just found this oddity today. I don't think you're supposed to be there Google

Is this the right thread for "Google Street view oddities"?

Very strange that the GSV car managed to get through a closed road without moving the construction barriers.

[lordsutch]

Just found this oddity today. I don't think you're supposed to be there Google

Is this the right thread for "Google Street view oddities"?

Except if you follow the path back it's obvious there aren't any barriers in the way and there's no visible "ROAD CLOSED" sign in place, so the GSV car's path was presumptively legal. Someone else has moved the barriers aside and apparently forgot to put them back in place.

[Buffaboy]

Don't know where to put this, but I just saw a Street View car go by. I stuck my head out of the sunroof so I could get in the picture.

[briantroutman]

Has anyone else noticed this?

In Street View, Google has added a "Google, Inc."  byline in the upper left corner, below the current location but above the date selector. Presumably, this means Google will be using alternate street view imagery providers in some situations...? Has anyone seen another provider listed?

[freebrickproductions]

Has anyone else noticed this?

In Street View, Google has added a “Google, Inc.” byline in the upper left corner, below the current location but above the date selector. Presumably, this means Google will be using alternate street view imagery providers in some situations...? Has anyone seen another provider listed?

Users can submit panoramic shots to be used on street view, and it's always listed their names. I guess that Google just decided to standardize it and include their name on the shots they take as well.

[TheGrassGuy]

Is there any law against street photography in national parks like there is on the George Washington Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing? Why is there only old street view on many roads in Acadia National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and Crater Lake National Park?

[KeithE4Phx]

Is there any law against street photography in national parks like there is on the George Washington Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing? Why is there only old street view on many roads in Acadia National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and Crater Lake National Park?

Yellowstone is fully represented, so I have to believe that there's no blanket law against GSV in National Parks.  Border crossings are another story, both on the US and Canadian/Mexican side. 

[US 89]

Is there any law against street photography in national parks like there is on the George Washington Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing?

I'd imagine security concerns are why major bridges like the GWB and Verrazano Narrows lack GSV. How valid those concerns might actually be is another matter...