06 August 2011

Google Street View database being updated

I was in our front yard last week when the Google Street View car went by.  Apparently they are updating their database with higher resolution photos:
...the fourth generation street view camera provides clear, sharp, and vivid images. In most of Europe, for example, all images were taken with the 4th generation camera.... All older images where street view was first made available, such as America, Australia, and Japan, will be phased out and replaced with newer imagery taken with the fourth generation street view cameras.
In some countries objections have been raised based on privacy concerns, but here in Madison elected officials are very supportive, for a surprising but logical reason:
"I'm very glad to hear they're getting new data," said Dave Davis, Madison's geographic information system manager for the engineering department. City staff rely extensively on Street View to show them such things as fire hydrants, traffic signs and sidewalks without having to leave the office, he said, saving trips and time.

9 comments:

  1. It's a good thing they can't see into my backyard!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's one thing to have weeds a little tall in the front now and then. It's another when the street-view car photographs them the day before you were going to cut them, to remain as the street-view of your house forever (or at least until the the next generation of cameras comes out).

    Sigh. I've got yard work to do.

    ReplyDelete
  3. No joke, the cops came to the neighbors house across the street last year. She looked at her house on Google Earth, and saw a strange car in the driveway, so she called the police. She had only lived there for a couple of months at the time.
    The police were good nature'd about it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lots of Melbourne (Australia) has already been updated. Much higher resolution - great.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was able to read a store's hours from the street view. It saved me some time.

    ReplyDelete
  6. City staff rely extensively on Street View to show them such things as fire hydrants, traffic signs and sidewalks without having to leave the office, he said, saving trips and time.

    Er...they do know the images don't show these locations in real time, don't they? I mean, that fire hydrant could be long gone for all they know.

    --Swift Loris

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am suprised that google hasn't created a 'service' that for a 'small fee' would update the photos upon request. It is hard to sell a house when the picture shows it neglected or a dog squatting on the lawn, etc.
    @bigjohn756 - Zillow.com, among others, provides low flying aerial photographs from 4 directions... Privacy is long gone...

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love Google Street View. It gives me a way to "see" places I can't afford to visit in person, like Rome and Pompeii, Barcelona, Amsterdam... and, of course, places in the U.S.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm waiting for it to be updated, because I believe I'll be in it. I passed the google car while biking down my street. The old images are still up as of now though.

    ReplyDelete