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Google Tricycles To Map Footpaths For Street View

Posted by kdawson on from the hope-they-are-well-insured dept.

CNETNate writes "To advance its Street View service this summer, Google is poised to unleash the unstoppable power of human legs. Google will deploy pedal-powered tricycles — the company calls them 'Google Trikes' — mounted with 360 degree Street View cameras to map areas inaccessible by its fleet of Street View cars." The article indicates that the trikes will first see use in the UK, to map out public walking paths, but one anonymous commenter said: "This must be bogus — you are not allowed to cycle on public footpaths in the UK, I can't believe Google would have overlooked such a fundamental fact. Not to mention that the vehicle pictured wouldn't fit down most paths." PC World features the trikes in Rome.

18 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. Good job kdawson! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The article indicates that the trikes will first see use in the UK"

    He then goes on to link to pictures of them actually being used in Rome. Did the UK annex Rome?

    1. Re:Good job kdawson! by nitehawk214 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Put cameras on everyone's cats.... You'll get a lot more than a "street view".....

      Especially the view from Ceiling Cat.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    2. Re:Good job kdawson! by Jbcarpen · · Score: 4, Funny

      I suspect the average cat would be difficult to put up a dogs nose. I do however think that if you managed to do so, then there would indeed be entertaining footage to be had.

      --
      GENERATION 667: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation
  2. Next up: by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Google Sherpa!

  3. Pretty soon ... by jsnipy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Soon there will be "Google Stuff in Your House" where a half dozen guys dressed head to toe in black with head mounted cameras will rifle through your belongings, cabinets, and drawers. So when you loose your cars keys, just Google it!

    --
    -- if you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
    1. Re:Pretty soon ... by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm not sure you thought your cunning plan all the way through.

      Me: Honey, where did I put my car keys?
      Her: I don't know dear, just fucking google it.
      Me: OK, according to Google they are on the keyhook next to the door... WTF? They aren't there!
      Her: Oh, that's right, dear, the Googol Housecrawling Spiders of Doom haven't been through since last Tuesday. That's where they were then.

      Me: Fucking useless GoogleHouse app. At least they helpfully recorded the combination when I unlocked my safe.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    2. Re:Pretty soon ... by noidentity · · Score: 4, Funny

      So when you loose your cars keys, just Google it!

      Wouldn't tightening them be more appropriate?

    3. Re:Pretty soon ... by noidentity · · Score: 4, Funny

      Me: OK, according to Google they are on the keyhook next to the door... WTF? They aren't there!
      Her: Oh, that's right, dear, the Googol Housecrawling Spiders of Doom haven't been through since last Tuesday. That's where they were then.
      Me: Fucking useless GoogleHouse app.[...]

      There's always Google's cached copy of them...

    4. Re:Pretty soon ... by fava · · Score: 4, Funny

      Considering the scale bars at the bottom are set to 200 miles, then I would say its a pretty big flat.

      There would be no problem seeing it from orbit, the coffee table is 100 miles by 200 miles just by itself, and the rug is a massive 700 miles square.

      Your brother must be rich to afford a flat that big!

    5. Re:Pretty soon ... by Clovis42 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Shortly after I showed Google Earth to my Mom, she came to me with a question. A friend of hers wanted to know if I could get photos of someone who broke into her house. That's right; satellite images of a specific time (at night!) that were good enough that you could actually identify the people in them, on google, for free. Now, maybe the CIA can do this....

      I remember being amazed at what was offered on Google Earth when it first came out. It is always surprising when someone else thinks that a technology can do something that is insanely more complicated than what I was amazed by.

      --
      Clovis
      ^ Clovis, look! It's that guy you are!
  4. Re:LIDAR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    By attaching it to their masts.

  5. Re:google + scuba = ? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Funny

    SCUGA.

    Self-contained underwater Google app.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  6. Re:There's a few businesses and the like... by Locke2005 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I always get lost walking the many trails at the local nudist colony -- do you think Google could come out and map these for me?

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  7. History lesson by Smivs · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did the UK annex Rome?

    No, it was the other way round. Rome invaded Britain in 43AD. I think they've mostly gone home now.

    --
    Smivs on the intertubes!
    1. Re:History lesson by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, but what have the Romans ever done for us?

  8. Re:I can just imagine by pjt33 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I imagine they'll have plenty of evidence to help the police identify their assailants.

  9. Re:google + scuba = ? by geobeck · · Score: 4, Funny

    just attach cameras to aquatic lifeforms and let us swim the depths of the oceans from our computers...

    Oh great. Sharks with frickin' Google cams.

    --
    Find environmentally and socially responsible products on http://buy-right.net
  10. Re:I can just imagine by rossifer · · Score: 4, Funny

    I have a potato cannon that's accurate enough from 50-100 yards away but also works like a mortar launcher that we can peg a bush roughly 5 acres away (about 250 yards).

    5 acres away? If you planted those 250 yards with zucchini, how many neighbors could you bother over the next furlong?

    (Yeah, yeah, so I'm not all that great with jokes about improperly used units.)