now I want to travel around the globe :(
MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
31–40 of 49 posts
Re: MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
#32Is there any way I can get rid of the caption that tells me where I am? I think it would be more fun as a guessing game. Look at the local vegetation, architecture, and kinds of cars you see around, and see if you can figure out where in the world you are. (The street name is also a pretty big hint.)
I tried playing it a couple of times just by covering up the appropriate part of the screen. It's often surprisingly easy to narrow it down, but sometimes ridiculously hard.
Re: MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
#33[deleted]
Re: MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Completely random drop would fare really bad (street view is very rare compared to Earth's surface). What I would do is a sort of "computer vision". Map has well defined colors for features, so you just need to check pixels with proper shading. This should be quite easy as street view availability seems like a transparent overlay image, so you even wouldn't need to distinguish it from other map features. And even if…
I'd assume it only attempts drops on streets. In which case, as badly as one in a few hundred drops on only streets? I bet it'd be pretty close. They've street-viewed an absolutely ridiculous amount of roads.
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Re: MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
#35Makes you realize how rural the world actually is. You lose sight of that living in a big city.
Looks like overpopulation is far from being a problem...
Re: MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
#36I didn't realize how much of the world Google had mapped... It seems like just last year that Seattle wasn't even included yet...
On the contrary, I'm amazed at just how much of Africa is South Africa. Out of maybe a dozen tries, I have had one African hit that was not in South Africa, and that was a Spanish-owned island off the coast of the Sahara.
Sampling bias.
Try normal Google Maps, zoom out to see the whole world. Drag yellow StreetView dude, you will see blue overlay showing StreetView coverage (ignore isolated dots, these are Panoramio photos).
You will see that South Africa is the only place in Africa with coverage.
Re: MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the contrary, I'm amazed at just how much of Africa is South Africa. Out of maybe a dozen tries, I have had one African hit that was not in South Africa, and that was a Spanish-owned island off the coast of the Sahara.
Sampling bias. Try normal Google Maps, zoom out to see the whole world. Drag yellow StreetView dude, you will see blue overlay showing StreetView coverage (ignore isolated dots, these are Panoramio photos). You will see that South Africa is the only place in Africa with coverage.
Right, that was my point. I was trying to be ironic with my claim that all of Africa is South Africa.
Re: MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
#38Ah... I have to admit, it made me smile. It randomly brought me to Italy and to an area I knew pretty well (Torino/Milano). I have family over there :)
Randomly? Sure, some MIT guy made it...but this is Google we're talking about. ;)
Re: MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find the rural places more interesting. I live in a megacity, it's nice to see some countryside.
I don't know... I clicked a few times... the first time was a beautiful, picturesque spot in the Lake District in England. Every stop after that was some kind of inter-state or major road in the US, with basically nothing around but trees and a road. It got boring pretty quickly. This would have been much more interesting if they'd allowed people to vote places that they were parachuted in up or down, and then displa…
It's weird... the first five scenes I saw were fantastic, exotic, sharp images, and I was so inspired I sent the link to several of my family and friends. Now, I'm clicking through, and I can't find any more good ones.
Weird?
Re: MIT Globe Genie (Random Street View)
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know... I clicked a few times... the first time was a beautiful, picturesque spot in the Lake District in England. Every stop after that was some kind of inter-state or major road in the US, with basically nothing around but trees and a road. It got boring pretty quickly. This would have been much more interesting if they'd allowed people to vote places that they were parachuted in up or down, and then displa…
It's weird... the first five scenes I saw were fantastic, exotic, sharp images, and I was so inspired I sent the link to several of my family and friends. Now, I'm clicking through, and I can't find any more good ones. Weird?
Just untick everything except Europe.