Google Street View for Google Maps

Google Street View allows anyone to get panoramic views of a given location on Google Maps. In order for those panoramas to be available, it means that Google actually came to map the area with one of their own rides to capture the environment.

A few years ago, Google decided to offer third party companies like VR2GO the opportunity to capture entire cities, islands, national parks and other locations, just like how they do it with their proprietary cars.

We use the same type of equipment in order to offer an affordable service that can bring huge benefits for local communities when it comes to the economy, tourism and other activities.

how to know if Google Street View is available in an area on Google Maps?

To know if Google Street View is available at a given location, you catch “Pegman“, that little yellow man, in the right lower corner and you drag-and-drop it on the map. If Google Maps starts showing blue lines, then it means that Street View is available in that location. The blue dots indicate panoramic views at those particular locations, those are posted by various people and the quality differs from one to the other.

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What does it look like on Google Maps?

Is there a difference between what we do and what Google does? No, the principle is the same and the result as well, enough to change the daily lives of people where those areas are currently unavailable on Google Street View.

To give you a better idea, here is a sample of a residential block that was constructed recently in Montreal. Please note that there was no previous Street View available in this area. The capture was done for “Rue Michel David” and “Rue Antonio-Spada” specifically. 

At this stage, the only visible difference is the fact that you can see the car at the bottom with our capture when Google places a patch at the bottom. They decided this didn’t matter as long as we could provide quality visuals. Only a few cameras are certified by Google to provide the Street View service on Google Maps.

Why would you need this service ?

This service is related to Google Maps and Google Street View only, this means all data captured ends up being public for everyone. That said, the standard rules apply and faces and plates are blurred to protect privacy.

It is addressed to governments and local authorities who could benefit from panoramic visuals to showcase local businesses, attractions, roads and cities. In turn, this online presence will generate interest in the local economy for the local people, be useful for tourists to be able to direct themselves efficiently and overall give real immersive visuals for those places.

There are many wonderful places in the world that haven’t been mapped on Street View because they are located in remote areas, where Google doesn’t operate to this day. It is the case for many islands in the Caribbean Sea, parts of central America and Africa for example.

It’s also a great first step to have local businesses develop their online presence through virtual tours.