Having mapped the farthest corners of the internet, search-engine giant Google appears to be turning its attention to the 鈥渞eal world鈥�, funding a project to scan the streets of San Francisco.
Researchers behind Stanford University鈥檚 CityBlock Project have developed a technique for creating realistic and panoramic street-level images using a combination of vehicle-mounted laser range-finding equipment and video cameras.
鈥淲e have been building technology for digitising commercial city blocks from sideways-looking video taken from a vehicle driving down the street,鈥� writes Stanford researcher Marc Levoy on the project鈥檚 homepage. 鈥淧ossible applications include in-car navigation, online route visualisation, and web-based tourism.鈥�
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Google declined requests to comment on the project, but some experts see it as a natural extension of the company鈥檚 existing services.
For example, Google already lets users search by geographical criteria and provides searchable maps of North America and the UK, as well as satellite imagery. Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineWatch.com, says street-level photography could fit nicely into this location-based search strategy. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of interest in mapping,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd a lot of information can be more easily visualised in maps.鈥�
In January 2005, a search engine called A9 owned by Amazon launched a similar service, combining street-level still images with search results.
The Google-funded project could potentially capture continuous images of a neighbourhood. However, Sullivan points out that the Stanford project is still at a very early stage of development. 鈥淕oogle might not even know what it wants to do with the technology yet,鈥� he told 快猫短视频.
