Thursday, February 4, 2010

Google Street View just took it up a knotch. Now take your view from the street to inside stores.

Google Maps To Add “Google Store Views”


I received a tip from a New York retailer named Oh Nuts, that Google came to their store to take pictures for a new Google Maps product named “Google Store Views.” I was told that they took pictures of the inside of the store, every 6 feet, in all directions. They also took pictures of products.

Google Store Views will allow people to essentially walk into the store, off of Google Street Views. So imagine you are looking at this store, and then you can click on the door to enter it, all on Google Maps. Then when you enter the store, you can wall through it.

Here are pictures of Google capturing the pictures from within the store:

Google Store Views

Google Store Views

Here is an embed of the Google Maps Street View of outside of the store:


View Larger Map

I have emailed Google for a statement on this tip and I will update this post, if and when I get one.

They need to also partner with Microsoft's Photsynth to really take it to the next level. Photosynth takes all the pictures people post anywhere online and combines them into a seamless view of the world in which they were originally taken. For example there are thousands of photos taken of a particular block in NYC and uploaded to the web in a given day. Photosynth would piece those photos together to create one large mural if you will of that block in NYC. Google could use those photos to fill in the areas they don't have footage or photos of. So essentially every square inch of the world could be pieced together online.

Posted via web from Digital Anthropology

John Stewart explaining to O'Reilly why FOX News is.........

Stewart/ O'Reilly Segment 2

Posted via web from Digital Anthropology

It's 10 pm, do you know where all your personal information is?

a relatively new development that has appalled consumer advocates. "This practice, also referred to as 'browser cookie re-spawning,' circumvents the user's intent to clear browser cookies and should not be used," the company said in its filing.

We're being exploited. Our personal information bought and sold on trading blocks without us ever knowing, yet nothing is being done. Can we bring this to the forefront of public discussion please?

Posted via web from Digital Anthropology