Around the Net
DIY Street View Arrives
- CNET, Friday, June 8, 2012 11:54 AM
It’s a wee early for holiday shopping, but here’s something sure to be on every marketer’s wish list: "DIY streetview" -- a kit with which anyone can create their own version of Google's popular panoramic mapping feature, Street View. Just imagine the possibilities! With the kit, agencies and clients can map out any terrain -- from retail stores to target neighborhoods to event spaces -- and then fill them with marketing messages, signage, Web links, and all manner of relevant content.
Designed by German company Streetview Technology, the kit includes a camera that shoots “look-all-around-you,” domelike photos every three seconds -- and automatically geo-tags them -- a small server for processing images, and all the necessary operational software. “As far as pricing goes, this isn't the sort of thing you'd casually buy at RadioShack,” CNet notes.
As Streetview technology GM Jan Martin Mantkowski explained, the system is "for the professional with a budget," while suggesting that interested parties content him directly for details. As for existing customers, Mantkowski mentioned a mapping company from South America, a U.S. railways planning company, a company doing compliance checks for a U.S. government agency, and company doing aerial images in South Africa.
