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Google Street View in 2026

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Re: Google Street View in 2026

#81

Post by Legend2440 »

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…

>could also help autonomous vehicles as they would get more information than what they can immediately see.

Waymo and others already do this, that's why they can only operate in mapped areas.

Given that Waymo is a google company, they almost certainly started with street view data.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#82

Post by zdragnar »

amelius wrote: post #71
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…

The UX of Google Maps is abysmal even if you don't consider the 3D effects.

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.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#83

Post by wlesieutre »

efilife wrote: post #4
Oarch wrote: post #2

Apologies as this is fairly tangential: There's a parallax effect in Street View on Apple Maps that separates out the layers of every image. Things like lampposts or telephone poles all rotate slightly differently to whatever is behind them. And it's such a subtle effect that I still break my brain trying to determine whether or not I've made it up. Imagine expending that much development time and effort for somethin…

Sounds awesome, is there a video of it I could watch somewhere? Edit: for those who didn't know, like me, apple's maps are available at https://maps.apple.com . You can see this yourself. The effect is unvelievably smooth compared to what Google maps have

It's very cool but I don't understand why they've decided to basically not do it in the US and UK.

Meanwhile they have nearly full coverage of the rest of western Europe, plus a huge amount of Canada and Mexico.

https://i.imgur.com/ZPTozti.png

This was launched in 2019. A few years ago I remember speculating that they were holding it back with the cool 3D effects to do a big push alongside Vision Pro, but that's come and gone with no significant change to Look Around.

California isn't doing bad, but outside of that they're averaging about 0.5 locations per state.

They haven't been to Nashville but they sent someone to drive to Rainbow Lake, Alberta? What gives?

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#84

Post by coldpie »

tt24 wrote: post #75
coldpie wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

Google isn’t a monopoly.

The DOJ and the court that heard the case disagree with you https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-wins-signi...

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#85

Post by righthand »

zdragnar wrote: post #82
amelius wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UX of Google Maps is abysmal even if you don't consider the 3D effects.

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.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#87

Post by Doctor_Fegg »

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.

Mapillary is of course owned by Meta these days.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#88

Post by avanticc »

It is wild to think that Street View was once the most futuristic thing on the internet. Now it feels like a digital relic. The idea of a seamless transition from space to the front door has been a demo-room staple for years, yet we still have that clunky 'click to jump' navigation. It is not just about the visuals. It is about the lost metadata. There is so much semantic information in those images that could be powering a much more intelligent map, but instead, it feels like we are just looking at a very large, very static photo album.

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#89

Post by aeonik »

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…

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

Re: Google Street View in 2026

#90

Post by sunaookami »

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.
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