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Google Street View in 2026

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Re: Google Street View in 2026

#101

Post by cco »

crazygringo wrote: post #48
modeless wrote: post #10

Street View is such a missed opportunity. In 2007 it was visionary and essential to create the map data that allowed Google Maps to win. In 2026 it is a symbol of Google's stagnation. Essentially zero improvement in user experience for more than a decade, in a time of incredible advancements in computer vision. By now we should all be flying around the planet in a seamless 3D reconstruction unifying street level and…

We could be... but why? What's the product? It makes sense they prototyped it. But putting it into production is $$$, way more expensive than current street view. Current street view works well enough. How is a massively upgraded 3D version, that is bloated and slower to use on older devices, going to make Google more money? It feels more like a separate product to license to architecture firms, city planners, video…

Sometimes you don't know up front. Perhaps you learn a lot about gaussian splatting and push forward that tech by five years (presuming they started on this five years ago).

Or maybe you learn this helps you build a world model that would have accelerated Waymo's progression, or you sell it to robotics companies.

That's the nice thing about having a money printer and a ton of smart, curious, and driven people. You can afford to do things without a strict eye towards profit, that's reserved for tiny companies living on a razor's edge. Or consultants I guess.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#102

Post by crazygringo »

aeonik wrote: post #89
crazygringo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We could be... but why? What's the product? It makes sense they prototyped it. But putting it into production is $$$, way more expensive than current street view. Current street view works well enough. How is a massively upgraded 3D version, that is bloated and slower to use on older devices, going to make Google more money? It feels more like a separate product to license to architecture firms, city planners, video…

Google mission statement is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Which Street View as it is, currently does. And is a phenomenal human achivement.

Adding a bonus 3D renderer on top is just a nice-to-have.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#103

Post by Kye »

nevi-me wrote: post #80

I'm a bit upset that there's no screenshot of Africa in the call outs at the bottom. With the detail spec that the author describes, it reminds me that I have an identical CPU but I couldn't get my RAM to run at the advertised 5600Mhz. Hopefully there's updated BIOS so I can try did the issue again. Anyone know if I'd notice meaningful difference by flight from 3600 (what the pc reports) to 5600Mhz?

Linus Tech Tips just did a video on the impact of RAM speed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05HRLuU--jI

This might be one of the applications where it makes a difference.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#104

Post by cheschire »

sunaookami wrote: post #90
randomtoast wrote: post #78

I find it interesting that Germany is lit up like a candle, despite having relatively strict privacy laws. Nowhere else are there more buildings pixelated in Street View than in Germany.

Well StreetView was released in 2010 in Germany and not updated until 2023 (!). And the article doesn't take pixelated houses into account. Nowadays the material is finally up2date again and fewer houses pixelated (I think you had to request it again but nobody cared enough because there was no outrage like back then). The backlash in 2010 was overblown even back then.

The generational memory of the 1930's was still pretty accessible fifteen years ago. Less so now that the children of the late 1940's and early 1950's have mostly moved into an altersheim or are close to it.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#105

Post by modeless »

jdranczewski wrote: post #91
modeless wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Earth and Google Maps 3D satellite view on desktop web have essentially the same rendering of Street View, which hasn't materially changed in 10 years or more and does not have the features I described. Google Maps on mobile never integrated the 3D satellite view at all, which represents another regrettable lack of investment on Google's part. People rarely use the Street View feature because it's difficult to…

On Android they've actually rolled out the 3D view in Maps recently! Took them long enough. I now have an "aerial" button in the bottom left corner when viewing Street View imagery that switches between the two.

Whoa, you're right! When did they add that? Why would they bury it like that? Nobody will ever find it there. It should be the main satellite view the way it is on the web.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#106

Post by crazygringo »

cco wrote: post #101
crazygringo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We could be... but why? What's the product? It makes sense they prototyped it. But putting it into production is $$$, way more expensive than current street view. Current street view works well enough. How is a massively upgraded 3D version, that is bloated and slower to use on older devices, going to make Google more money? It feels more like a separate product to license to architecture firms, city planners, video…

Sometimes you don't know up front. Perhaps you learn a lot about gaussian splatting and push forward that tech by five years (presuming they started on this five years ago). Or maybe you learn this helps you build a world model that would have accelerated Waymo's progression, or you sell it to robotics companies. That's the nice thing about having a money printer and a ton of smart, curious, and driven people. You ca…

I can't tell if you're agreeing with me or not!

But yes, that is the nice thing about the money printer -- they were able to prototype it, and maybe it is helping Waymo.

But there isn't a strong need for it to live as a product within Google Street View.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#107

Post by modeless »

righthand wrote: post #85
zdragnar wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's arguments to be made that it could be better, to be sure, but I also remember when GPS driving directions were dedicated devices and you had to pay a few hundred bucks a year to get updated maps. For such an expensive product, it wasn't any better in many regards. I'm rather happy Google maps exists and can't complain too much about using it for free.

Mapquest existed before Google maps. Google maps main advantage was streetview, but if Google maps stopped existing we wouldn’t go back to proprietary closed mapping solutions. That’s silly.

Google Maps' main advantage at launch was smooth panning and zooming. Hard to remember now but MapQuest didn't have that.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#108

Post by rationalist »

Philip-J-Fry wrote: post #93
crazygringo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We could be... but why? What's the product? It makes sense they prototyped it. But putting it into production is $$$, way more expensive than current street view. Current street view works well enough. How is a massively upgraded 3D version, that is bloated and slower to use on older devices, going to make Google more money? It feels more like a separate product to license to architecture firms, city planners, video…

By selling virtual billboards within the street view

Thanks for giving them the idea :-/

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#109

Post by glaslong »

Philip-J-Fry wrote: post #93
crazygringo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We could be... but why? What's the product? It makes sense they prototyped it. But putting it into production is $$$, way more expensive than current street view. Current street view works well enough. How is a massively upgraded 3D version, that is bloated and slower to use on older devices, going to make Google more money? It feels more like a separate product to license to architecture firms, city planners, video…

By selling virtual billboards within the street view

Finally, the metaverse arrives
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