Marilyn's Photos - Sep 1 2025 - More Google Street View Cars

 

There was a time when Google street view cars were under the radar for the ordinary person.  I did a little reading to catch up on the  history of Google Maps.  Below is a picture that is purported to be a Google Camera Driver get-together in San Francisco.  I could look up the source article from yestertday, but find it more interesting that Google AI overview claims there are no get-togethers and have not been any.   The second picture is a view of the Goggle parking lot for its Subaru Imprezas with the cameras on top.  The PetaPixel article HERE said the photographer was a driver and that there are about 250 street view cars.  Each car uses 15 cameras that snap 360-degree views at a height of 8.2 feet. The rigs also feature GPS units for tracking location, and three laser range scanners that capture 3D models of the car’s surroundings as it drives around.  A lot of thought went into this activity - wikipedia has an extensive entry on the timeline. I didn't find any estimates of the total cost of carrying out the activity to date.

There are lots of articles on Google Drivers - there's a lot of interest in this novel job.  Google management must have decided early on that this wasn't something to be too public about - as a career/job or as an activity.  Maybe because of things like the pigeon people in Japan.  I found a picture, below.  What about the easter eggs found in Google Earth pictures?  Take a look at a few of them HERE.  There's one showing a Vermont Road crossing into Canada and then curving back into the U.S.   Google Earth easter eggs seem like a game of Where's Waldo?  Except you are looking for something strange rather than something familiar.  Do the pigeon people look like pigeons?   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca