I can see your house from here!

Google Maps

As someone with an unfortunate combination of a terrible sense of direction and the complacency to assume I’ll somehow find the way (not to mention the common male trait of being reluctant to ask for directions), online maps have saved me many an hour of aimless wandering around unfamiliar areas. Any tool that helps me to spec a place out must, then, be a Good Thing.

The unveiling of Google’s Street View feature has been the talk of the town on the internet, radio, in newspapers and on at least one Birmingham blog.

There are those that are not so impressed by the ‘wow factor’ of being able to fly through the streets of 25 UK cities, and are concerned about privacy because — despite face and number-plate blurring technology — some slip through the net; besides, it doesn’t take a genius to guess whom the Bill’s Window Cleaners van parked up outside number 23 belongs to.

I nevertheless think this will be a useful tool for checking where exactly a meeting location or shop is; could be useful for disabled people to gain advance warning of accessibility issues; and may even save environmentally-minded house-hunters a journey.

This is great if you want to look at the local area from the comfort of your own home (or anywhere else if you’re using a mobile internet connection); but if you want to interact with people, you’d have to get on Second Life! (For information about exploring Birmingham in Second Life, cick here for the Virtual Birmingham website.)

Share Posted in Digital Birmingham, Digital City, Internet, technology, Virtual Birmingham by John Heaven
Keywords: 3D, Google, online applications, openstreetmap, privacy