Check out the Immersive Media street-scanning car
By Ryan Block 
posted May 31st 2007 10:09PM
posted May 31st 2007 10:09PM
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
I think they've gone too far. Sure you get more details of some places but it sounds more useful for the stalkers than for us normal people.
My friends drive one of those around!
they have a body harness for the camera too...
crazyness! the media is being used for the new streetview feature on google maps
You could always put a bag over your head.
haha that would be an interesting conversation starter... "hey, i was using google maps the other days and saw your genitals, i think it was around 465 main st."
Unless you had seen them could you be sure that was their genitalia?
VW FTW
For a utility Beetle, those are actually some pretty nice wheels. I get tired of seeing people who just abuse their cars... and drive around with beat up steelies. Gets old after a while.
Good job!
oh, I wouldn't put my VW Jetta 2.5 on the streets unless Mr. Schmidt decides to offer me a position in the Labs and not on a street by street basis...:-)
I'm on ur streetz mappin your citiz
How often do they update the images? Do the cars drive hte street multiple times per day, or just once every month or so? How fast do you think they will add more cities?
My guess is not frequently at all.
Every day??? What's the point??? My street looks the same as yesterday, and will look the same tomorrow. It will probably look the same 5 years from now. It would seem that updating the pics every 5 to 10 years would be more a likely scenario. It's a database of street photos, not a live webcam.
i think i found that car.if you can look carefully you can see the camera at the top also. here is the picture link http://www.bildirgec.org/imaj/Hiroe/google-2.jpg
http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=new+york&ie=UTF8&om=1&layer=c&cbll=40.723589,-73.999957&cbp=1,213.605618971061,0.669399115755627,2&ll=40.735551,-74.006224&spn=0.04546,0.080338&z=14
Wow. Way better than NavTeq / TeleAtlas' version.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/x180/522880246/
Looks like they're down in Moab, in Arches National Park. That would be cool if they added a street view of that area.
@ MR:
It would be very useful for going to clubs, restaurants and bars that don't always display the address in the window, you can see what the building looks like and what your looking for.
if you want to pimp ze auto say vut?
sorry, had to say it.
Found one.
http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=6+bond+street,+new+york&sll=40.73243,-73.992577&sspn=0.023935,0.040169&ie=UTF8&ll=40.729747,-73.994915&spn=0.011968,0.020084&z=16&om=1&layer=c&cbll=40.727045,-73.994947&cbp=1,215.774879421221,0.695845391211147,1
New V Dub for under $17,000.
Though it is a "cute" way of capturing street view data, you would think that Google would have chosen a greener vehicle to crawl the streets. At approximately 20 mpg city with the New Beetle, I would have liked to see Google promote a Prius or another 40+ mpg hybrid vehicle. Not only would this be more eco-friendly regarding emissions, but also conserve fuel with the eye-popping gas prices these days. An entirely electric vehicle wouldn't hurt either, considering they convince GM to bring back the EV1.
Hey, it could always be a TDI fueled with biodiesel...
and by "Google" I mean Immersive Media, the company capturing the data for Google, sorry G!
I can't wait til those cars come to Dallas. I'm wondering why they don't use hybrid vehicles to do this? Woudln't it be more cost-effective to use a hybrid rather than a VW bug?
These are already in DFW. Saw one in Plano near PGBT not too long ago.
Makes me want to go rent a panel van with pr0n adverts on the side and box them in. >:-)
Street View is great. I just used it yesterday to find the cool building that houses the Food TV Network studios in Manhattan. Anyone know of a way to predict the vehicles location or path, waiting on the sidewalk to get your picture taken will be easier than looking up and waiting for a satellite photo.
Or this car from Cylcomedia in 2003 http://web.inter.nl.net/users/interniek/hagazine/denhaag/voertuigen/cyclomedia2.JPG
Or this story in Hagaz!ne http://web.inter.nl.net/users/interniek/hagazine/2003/06/gadgets.html#360
I added here the best Google Street View.
I added all the best "Google Street View" here : http://www.geo-trotter.com/cat-street-view.php.
This site has a large selection of interesting StreetView finds:
http://www.mapmole.com
They're just gathering all the data they possibly can so they know what to do when they take over the world after they conquer the internet pretty soon.