long time between posts, i know and i apologise.
this needed to be added though- it’s pretty rare for me to get excited about much on the internet these days but coming from a mapping background this ted talk by Blaise Aguera y Arcas’ blew me away. like everyone else, i was amazed when Google Street View came out as it really changed the way we consume maps online and on our mobile. now, it looks like microsoft is going to use their photosynth technology (which is wow-oh-so-cool, and i encourage you to check it out) to allow you to not only go to street-view level, but then explore inside buildings using crowd-sourced images from sites like flickr. this i can see could be useful exploring shopping centers etc, but they then demonstrate a live video overlay which, kudos to them is pretty cool technology-wise- i’m just at a loss as to how i would use it. maybe if it was hooked into a web-cam, i could see how busy a restaurant/shopping center/carpark is? i dont know- but i’m sure i will find a use for it!
there was something very voyeuristic about street-view when it was released, with countries like germany actually taking a stand and banning it. but this development goes far beyond that. i think we may see other countries joining germany, which would be a shame. but how would it work with peoples homes? could i take you on a tour inside a house? imagine the potential for real estate- doing virtual-tours (which, appreciated, have been done before- but this would be user-generated, not done by lazy real-estate agents).
bring it on, i say!
