Google Streetview comes to Sheffield

Wrote this quickly for the Sheffield Star this afternoon. I think it explains itself.
They’ve been to New York, Paris and London, but yesterday they arrived in Sheffield: The Google Streetview cars.

Google’s revolutionary Streetview service lets you view panoramic pictures from ground level around city centres as part of the popular Google Maps service.

To obtain these pictures, cars with hi-tech cameras fitted to the roof are driven around the city to capture images of everything they pass, taking pictures in every direction, every second.

These photographs are then stitched together by computers and positioned on the map at the exact location they were taken.


Click and drag to look around. View Larger Map

When processed the images become a frozen model of the streets, allowing internet users to move around the city looking down roads and peering into shop windows.

The movements of the Streetview cars are kept secret to keep the scenes as natural as possible and avoid advertising displays being erected for the cameras.

The distinctive Google cars have been spotted driving around the UK for the last week, being seen in London, Birmingham and Manchester. Yesterday one was spotted filming along West Street.

A full launch of the Streetview service in the UK is expected in the near future.

Privacy concerns were raised in the US after the initial launch of the Streetview service resulted in a number of individuals being pictured at embarrassing moments, including falling off of bikes and sunbathing topless.

Google maintain that all the images are taken from public space and they allow users to flag any images deemed inappropriate or private for removal from the service. They are also reported to be considering blurring faces and number plates for the UK launch.