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Google Street View in 2026

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Re: Google Street View in 2026

#61

Post by seszett »

taeric wrote: post #16
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…

While I agree something like this sounds really neat, I am curious what the value proposition is? Pointedly, is it any higher than doing the same thing in a video game in a fantasy world?

A more accurate, 3D mapped street view could probably allow GPS-less geolocation and could also help autonomous vehicles as they would get more information than what they can immediately see.

I could see well-mapped street view with good services built around it, and maybe a way to pay for and schedule regular updates, being used for towns to monitor public space long term too.

I think many things could be built on a better street view, but I also don't want Google to get yet another de facto monopoly in a new domain.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#62

Post by orsorna »

benbristow wrote: post #41

The workstation paragraph seems like a humble brag. Most of us yearn for a set-up like that! Especially with the price of components going up thanks to AI and corporations buying all the hardware to support it.

Seems like he ran out of money to get a good GPU though :)

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#63

Post by Ruthalas »

ks2048 wrote: post #36
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 need an open version (as OpenStreetMap is to Google Maps). Mapillary ( https://www.mapillary.com/ ) has surprisingly good coverage in some places, but the experience is lacking, partly because most of the images (where I've looked) aren't 360 views.

Panoramax[0] is another, perhaps more open option, though it is currently primarily used in Europe.

[0] panoramax.openstreetmap.fr/

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#64

Post by zokier »

hmokiguess wrote: post #23

Tangential comment but I still don't understand how we have technology to identify a car license plate from space but we have pixelated images from Antarctica on Google Maps / Google Earth. Why not publish that and make it accessible? Is it true that Antarctica is not easy to scan due to ice and snow?

> we have technology to identify a car license plate from space

We don't. State of the art imaging satellites are in ballpark of 20cm/px.

Here is what antarctica looks from a satellite: https://space-solutions.airbus.com/resources/satellite-image...

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#66

Post by coldpie »

pibaker wrote: post #65
tt24 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The problem with communism is you eventually run out of successful organizations to ruin.

Breaking up monopolies is a requirement for competition & healthy markets. Enforcing anti-trust laws is pro-capitalism, pro-business, and pro-consumer. Imagine how many more tech improvements we would have if Google had to compete for its users instead of squashing its competitors!

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#67

Post by int0x29 »

seszett wrote: post #61
taeric wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree something like this sounds really neat, I am curious what the value proposition is? Pointedly, is it any higher than doing the same thing in a video game in a fantasy world?

A more accurate, 3D mapped street view could probably allow GPS-less geolocation and could also help autonomous vehicles as they would get more information than what they can immediately see. I could see well-mapped street view with good services built around it, and maybe a way to pay for and schedule regular updates, being used for towns to monitor public space long term too. I think many things could be built on a…

This already exists. If my phone fails to get a good GPS signal Google Maps prompts me to turn the camera on and spin around in a circle. I would also be unsurprised to learn Waymo uses Street View

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#68

Post by epicureanideal »

lucaslazarus wrote: post #38
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…

Knowing Google’s tendency to kill things they try and fail to revamp, I’ll take this stagnation as long as they keep updating it with new imagery. Street View is the greatest project in human historiography; there’s too much to lose to silly Google management.

Absolutely. Imagine being able to look at 100 years of street view history, or several hundred, at some point in the future.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#69

Post by int0x29 »

modeless wrote: post #24
taeric wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree something like this sounds really neat, I am curious what the value proposition is? Pointedly, is it any higher than doing the same thing in a video game in a fantasy world?

The difference is that it's useful for navigating the real world. You could have way better directions displays that show directions in context instead of just schematically. It would make the petabytes of imagery that has already been collected much more accessible and therefore useful, instead of being relegated to a special clunky Street View mode that is rarely visited. It would enable exploring real spaces in a…

Google maps has two different versions of this. One of them has a step by step series of street view images and the other does a full animated fly through of every street. The second one may be web only.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#70

Post by monitron »

benbristow wrote: post #41

The workstation paragraph seems like a humble brag. Most of us yearn for a set-up like that! Especially with the price of components going up thanks to AI and corporations buying all the hardware to support it.

Just a regular brag, I'd say! He mentions it at the top of every blog post, including irrelevant details like the case. "Weird flex, but OK"

The visuals are neat looking but I was hoping to see more details like correlating capture recency with countries, population, economic status, etc. to see what causes areas to get the most and least love from Google.

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