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Great Barrier Reef underwater panoramas in Google Maps

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Re: Great Barrier Reef underwater panoramas in Google Maps

#31

Post by stevenrace »

anonymous543 wrote: post #29

I might be missing something, but why is everyone so excited about this? If you want a great experience of the oceans and reefs out there, you could load up an HD video on YouTube of the Great Barrier Reef, and view something much more immersive. I'm a huge fan of street view, and I love being able to virtually drive to where I'm going, and find landmarks to help along the way, like for example, a large orange buildi…

I think it's important to map our (in the Global sense) undersea conditions over time. We hear a great deal about Global Warming - yet it's only the timelapse satellite imagery that concretes it for dismissive minds.

The same can be said for coral reefs, rivers, etc. 'Coral bleaching' is a real problem and reflective of global weather events.

Regarding #2 - In a more idealistic vision of 'Underwater Google Maps', the Voyager Project [1] made an interesting plea to Google to do something similar and provide HD video feeds from UAVs [2].

[1] http://www.underseavoyagerproject.org/

[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4iDQsXIi3I

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Edit - Additionally, existing 'undersea documentaries' tend towards visual hyperbole (ooh a yellow fish, damn sharks are scary, etc) - rarely exploring the topography of the ecosystem they're covering. Being able to wander aimlessly underwater may prove more valuable to a student's imagination and provide a more lasting feel for far flung places and culture (or the life of a crab) - as apposed to from a TV, the deck of a cruise ship, or a car window.

Re: Great Barrier Reef underwater panoramas in Google Maps

#32

Post by mdonahoe »

anonymous543 wrote: post #29

I might be missing something, but why is everyone so excited about this? If you want a great experience of the oceans and reefs out there, you could load up an HD video on YouTube of the Great Barrier Reef, and view something much more immersive. I'm a huge fan of street view, and I love being able to virtually drive to where I'm going, and find landmarks to help along the way, like for example, a large orange buildi…

Being able to control where you go and what you look at has some appeal. This certainly isnt a replacement of a underwater documentary, but it offers an alternative way to experience the reef.

If they had denser panorama coverage it would be better. I agree that this isn't the most usable Street View.

Re: Great Barrier Reef underwater panoramas in Google Maps

#33

Post by reledi »

anonymous543 wrote: post #29

I might be missing something, but why is everyone so excited about this? If you want a great experience of the oceans and reefs out there, you could load up an HD video on YouTube of the Great Barrier Reef, and view something much more immersive. I'm a huge fan of street view, and I love being able to virtually drive to where I'm going, and find landmarks to help along the way, like for example, a large orange buildi…

you could load up an HD video on YouTube of the Great Barrier Reef

You can't control a video to see what you want to. You have some control with this underwater Street View. It's the same reason why I find Street View much more valuable than watching videos on YouTube of people driving.

Re: Great Barrier Reef underwater panoramas in Google Maps

#34

Post by snogglethorpe »

dannyr wrote: post #16
mayneack wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd personally vote for a tour of the trails in national parks.

Street View goes on a road trip through California's national parks http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/street-view-goes-on-r...

What's sad, though, is that are there roads (and parking lots) in those places... The streetviews just sort of rub it in. :(

A backpack-cam, on the other hand would be great, and give a much truer sense of what it's like to be out there in the middle of nowhere.

Re: Great Barrier Reef underwater panoramas in Google Maps

#35

Post by snogglethorpe »

te_chris wrote: post #17
bartonfink wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually not a bad idea - Google sponsored hikes.

I was at an arduino talk at last year's BaaCamp in Auckland, NZ and there was a guy who had made his own street view style cam for capturing hiking trails using arduino and some cameras. Very cool, imagine he's not the only one either.

Do you have a link? (thanks!)

Re: Great Barrier Reef underwater panoramas in Google Maps

#36

Post by anonymous543 »

reledi wrote: post #33
anonymous543 wrote: post #29

I might be missing something, but why is everyone so excited about this? If you want a great experience of the oceans and reefs out there, you could load up an HD video on YouTube of the Great Barrier Reef, and view something much more immersive. I'm a huge fan of street view, and I love being able to virtually drive to where I'm going, and find landmarks to help along the way, like for example, a large orange buildi…

you could load up an HD video on YouTube of the Great Barrier Reef You can't control a video to see what you want to. You have some control with this underwater Street View. It's the same reason why I find Street View much more valuable than watching videos on YouTube of people driving.

Sure you can, here's an example.

http://www.nimmobay.com/media/360-video/360-video-nimmo-bay-...

Attach one of those to a diver at popular destinations. On Google maps, show a little video icon. Click the icon, watch, and look around as they swim the location. It's now easier to navigate, and gives you a better representation of snorkelling or diving in that area.

Re: Great Barrier Reef underwater panoramas in Google Maps

#37

Post by minikomi »

dannyr wrote: post #16
mayneack wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd personally vote for a tour of the trails in national parks.

Street View goes on a road trip through California's national parks http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/street-view-goes-on-r...

There's a nice walk you can take through the bamboo forrest in Kyoto:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=%E5%B5%90%E5%B1%B1%E3%80%80%E...

Re: Great Barrier Reef underwater panoramas in Google Maps

#40

Post by gatordan »

anonymous543 wrote: post #29

I might be missing something, but why is everyone so excited about this? If you want a great experience of the oceans and reefs out there, you could load up an HD video on YouTube of the Great Barrier Reef, and view something much more immersive. I'm a huge fan of street view, and I love being able to virtually drive to where I'm going, and find landmarks to help along the way, like for example, a large orange buildi…

It's overly negative and hyperbolic comments like this on HN that make me think "They thought THAT was bad, I can't imagine posting my own work on here". This a high quality 360 degree view of a path along a coral reef - no it's not particularly practical but are you genuinely scratching your head trying to come up with ONE thing it does well? Do you really find the navigation to be "brutal"? I feel like you're being unnecessarily negative about something that is pretty well executed and at least in part meant to be fun.

I personally have never seen anything like this and thoroughly enjoyed it for a few minutes. As someone else pointed out I was blow away by how well it worked from the google maps app on my phone. And I'm not convinced something like Planet Earth on blu-ray or "HD video on youtube" gives you the same experience unless you could pause it at any point and look around in any direction.

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