GOOGLE STREET VIEW IRELAND LAUNCHED
Google has officially launched Street View on Google Maps. Street View is now live for Ireland using the www.maps.google.com. The application, which gives users a panoramic view of a location from street level, is live at http://maps.google.ie/
Chambers Ireland, Daft Media, Failte Ireland and the Arts Council have partnered with Google to fully integrate Street View into their respective websites to illustrate properties, businesses, cultural events and top tourist destinations.
Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth. Users can zoom in to the lowest level on Google Maps, or by dragging the orange ‘Pegman’ – Street View’s mascot – icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street. Users will be able to check out a restaurant before arriving, make travel plans, arrange meeting points, get a helping hand with geography homework, or just explore and get to know a town better.
Technology
The feature provides users 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic street level views within Google Maps. Google collects these images using special cameras and equipment that capture and match images to a specific location using GPS devices. Once the images are captured, they are “sewn” together to create a 360° panorama. Faces and license plates are blurred before the panorama images are served and become viewable in Google Maps.
Turning Photos into Street View
Once the photographs have been taken by Google vehicles, they go through computer processing to make them ready for showing on Google Maps. Google take all the individual photos that have been collected by the cameras and “sew” them together to make the 360° panorama photo that you see on Google Maps.
Google then apply cutting-edge face blurring technology, which helps make sure that passers-by in the photographs can’t be identified. They will also blur legible license plates.
