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Riding Shotgun With the Google Street View Beetle
longacre writes "Popular Mechanics takes a ride in an Immersive Media VW Beetle, one of the six cars that drives around America shooting images for Google Maps Street View. Mounted on the roof is the $45,000 Dodeca 2360 video camera, whose 11 lenses record a 360 degree field of view at 30 frames per second, sucking up as many as 200 miles of city scenes per day. The setup takes up the whole back seat and part of the front passenger seat, and is all controlled with an off-the-shelf Logitech game controller. Includes a cool interactive raw video of a drive through Manhattan."
If it didn't require any user control (for the cameras at least). I mean why isn't the recording speed tied to the speed of the car? (or is it?) what need do you have to manipulate the cameras manually. Instead if the car is stuck in traffic, just stop recording. If the car is moving faster, increase the fps.
What purpose does the game controller have? Are the drivers allowed to track hotties? or is it for focusing in on billboards for corporate sponsors? Are they offering street view adwords or something?
I must disagree with yours and everyone else's statements that this is an invasion of privacy. What Google records on the public streets is A) protected by the first amendment and B) not a privacy issue because if something is viewable from a public street, then there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.
My blog
if they rigged up the interior with a lot of HDTVs so that the walls seemed to be transparent to anyone inside
Yes. If only there was some way we could make a solid, imovable, vertical surface transparent so that we could make parts of vehicles from it. We could then drive moving vehicles down the street without crashing and children could peer outside while travelling.
The techology may even become so cheap so that we could use it housing so theat we dont have to live in darkness in our homes. We good look outside through the transparent 'walls' and see the sun.
One day technology will find a way.
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beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his mind he dreams himself your master
Because the twelfth face of the dodecahedron is occupied by the mount.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."--Feynman
Police? Yes, I'd like to report a stolen camera.
The parking lot at seven eleven.
To buy a slushie.
The roof of my car.
It cost over forty grand.
A Volkswagon Beatle.
No no, the camera.
That's right, a slushie.
No, just a slushie.
I don't think they sell that.
Yes, the roof.
Really big. And it takes round pictures.
No, really, I haven't.
No, this isn't.
Balls? Only two.
Yes they are, but that's not what I meant by round pictures.
Well, I guess it is.
I'm sure it wouldn't fit.
Same to you.
Gary Dunn
Open Slate Project