Google CanalView

[JamesLeeds]

Sorry.. It doesnt exist.. But, Imagine if it did.. Like Google streetview, but covering canals and rivers! (Streetview being the Google maps product where you can navigate roads at street level)

 

As far as the kit goes, its fairly straightforward on the technical side, it also wouldn't be a stretch to add depth and width measurements onto the maps/views.

 

Anyway, was just something that popped into my head.. Anyone have any thoughts of wether such a project could be pulled off? Consier things like the support OpenStreetMap gets etc. (Actually, the canals are mapped well on OSM.. perhaps some good boating contributers.

[Guest]

Sorry.. It doesnt exist.. But, Imagine if it did.. Like Google streetview, but covering canals and rivers! (Streetview being the Google maps product where you can navigate roads at street level)

 

As far as the kit goes, its fairly straightforward on the technical side, it also wouldn't be a stretch to add depth and width measurements onto the maps/views.

 

Anyway, was just something that popped into my head.. Anyone have any thoughts of wether such a project could be pulled off? Consier things like the support OpenStreetMap gets etc. (Actually, the canals are mapped well on OSM.. perhaps some good boating contributers.

 

I can just see the Google camera car driving down the tow path... until boats can gather the info at the same speed as a car travelling at 30-60 mph we will wait a very long time I think.

 

nice idea, in the mean time - the nearest you get is some of the virtual tours like some of the ones you get on this very good site-

 

Safe clicky to Pennine waterways

[Bullfrog]

Waterways World used it for their 1st April Spoof.

 

David

[alan_fincher]

I can just see the Google camera car driving down the tow path... until boats can gather the info at the same speed as a car travelling at 30-60 mph we will wait a very long time I think.

 

nice idea, in the mean time - the nearest you get is some of the virtual tours like some of the ones you get on this very good site-

 

Safe clicky to Pennine waterways

You could well be proved wrong on this.....

 

Google Street View TRIKE Link

 

This story appears widely, and not for April 1st.

 

I can see no immediate evidence it's a spoof.

[JamesLeeds]

You could well be proved wrong on this.....

 

 

Yeah these really are in use.. They will be great to cover places like venice etc.

 

It would be great if towpaths were covered.. although, it may kill some of the mystery that makes cruising enjoyable perhaps.

 

Although.. I was getting at the fact that average boaters could these days achieve something like this, in the way the openstreetmap volunteers have mapped a large percentage of the UK from scratch..

[Biggles]

Off you go then. I for one would be willing to cruse my local area to assist. It needs a coordinator though. You up for it?

 

Biggles

[Guest]

You could well be proved wrong on this.....

 

Google Street View TRIKE Link

 

This story appears widely, and not for April 1st.

 

I can see no immediate evidence it's a spoof.

 

Still can't see it myself - not all sections of the towpath are suitable for cycling with a trike like that and as soon as they hit some sections of the North Oxford they would be axle deep in mud unless it was bone dry!

Edited March 29, 2010 by MJG

[MartinClark]

Still can't see it myself - not all sections of the towpath are suitable for cycling with a trike like that and as soon as they hit some sections of the North Oxford they would be axle deep in mud unless it was bone dry!

The towpath through some of the bridgeholes would be too narrow as well.

 

Plus there are a number of motor-bike barriers that do not have openable sections.

[alan_fincher]

The towpath through some of the bridgeholes would be too narrow as well.

 

Plus there are a number of motor-bike barriers that do not have openable sections.

Yes, I actually tend to agree, although on many waterways it appears to be possible to do.

 

Clearly a better solution might be to attach the required equipment to boats, but clearly the rate of recording would be much slower than on many roads, (althogh some of the "Street" stuff is clearly filmed whilst stuck in traffic jams!!....)

 

OH had to go to a course in London the other day, at a venue she had not been to before.

 

Instead of taking a map, she "walked" the route on Street View before she caught the train. She said it was then virtually impossible to get lost, having seen the route pictorially before she did it for real.....

[JamesLeeds]

On a boat would be fine.. Basically, as long as the kit can take a 360 degree photo every say.. 10 meters and attach a GPS location to it.. you have Streetview. There seems to be a misconception that its a video, or has to move fast.

[alan_fincher]

There seems to be a misconception that its a video, or has to move fast.

Not by me, there isn't.

 

But if you chose a very slow mode of transport, like a narrow-boat passing through locks, to take the photos, then the whole process of getting the pictures takes far far longer than it would were it a street.

 

I assume the equipment involved is fairly expensive (?), so it might not be cost effective to have it tied up for weeks to capture not that much waterway.

 

How do they avoid any of the car that takes the photos from ever appearing in them, by the way ?

 

If you mounted a single camera mast on a 60 foot narrow-boat, photographing in all directions, how would you not end up with boat roof in the pictures ?

[Guest]

How do they avoid any of the car that takes the photos from ever appearing in them, by the way ?

 

If you mounted a single camera mast on a 60 foot narrow-boat, photographing in all directions, how would you not end up with boat roof in the pictures ?

 

I don't think there are many 60ft long cars....so you would indeed end up with some nice boat roof shots.

Edited March 29, 2010 by MJG

[MartinClark]

How do they avoid any of the car that takes the photos from ever appearing in them, by the way ?

There are plenty of places where the car can be seen reflected in windows, as in this example.

 

Also lots of examples of the camera's shadow being clearly visible. [Example.]

 

Then you have the odd image of local inhabitants paying rather close attention to the camera..... [Street View Clicky.]

[JamesLeeds]

I assume the equipment involved is fairly expensive (?)

 

 

Maybe not.. This is what I was thinking.. many many cheap devices around the UK. Basically, a GPS chip.. A cheap image CCD and 360 mirror, Microprocessor, storage, battery etc.. Well, I was going to try and put one together.. See how cheap I could do it.

 

Then you have the odd image of local inhabitants paying rather close attention to the camera..... [Street View Clicky.]

 

Thats brilliant!

 

 

Hmm I think really I just want a new project as my boat refit is coming to and end!

 

 

P.S. If anyone uses FourSquare.. That would be an interesting concept for the canals.. Your Iphone/Blackberry/Othersmartdevicewithgps buzzes, and tells you if you moor onto that treee to the left.. walk up the bank, theres a nice pub that does a nice curry.. etc etc

Edited March 29, 2010 by JamesLeeds

[Richard Fairhurst]

Consider things like the support OpenStreetMap gets etc. (Actually, the canals are mapped well on OSM.. perhaps some good boating contributers.

Definitely - OSM has lots of people who like canals.

[JamesLeeds]

I dont think this is real;

 

http://imagebin.org/91010

 

Is is the april fools one?

[magpie patrick]

The Google trike will be illegal on footpaths and indeed on any route that is not a public right of way or permissive route for bikes, I'm sure Google know this as they didn't take the car down some motorable roads that are private (like into our marina)

 

Fitting it to the boat would be grand but I await with interest the first time they encounter a low bridge and the camera gets knocked off!

[mayalld]

The Google trike will be illegal on footpaths and indeed on any route that is not a public right of way or permissive route for bikes, I'm sure Google know this as they didn't take the car down some motorable roads that are private (like into our marina)

 

Fitting it to the boat would be grand but I await with interest the first time they encounter a low bridge and the camera gets knocked off!

 

I suspect that they could do it by boat, but that they would need to redesign their software and hardware.

 

The current system uses 4 cameras mounted at a single point at 90 degrees to each other.

 

That just couldn't be accomodated on a boat. You could have the forward and side cameras at the bow, but the rear facing camera would have to be mounted on the counter, and the system, instead of marrying up 4 photos taken together would have to cope with 3 simultaneous photos and a 4th photo from that point taken at a different time.

[WotEver]

I dont think this is real;

I love the line "... boaters will be able to request that images of them are removed if they are captured in ambarrassing circumstances, such as with a rope around the tiller pin".

 

T

[Chris J W]

I suspect that they could do it by boat, but that they would need to redesign their software and hardware.

 

The current system uses 4 cameras mounted at a single point at 90 degrees to each other.

 

That just couldn't be accomodated on a boat. You could have the forward and side cameras at the bow, but the rear facing camera would have to be mounted on the counter, and the system, instead of marrying up 4 photos taken together would have to cope with 3 simultaneous photos and a 4th photo from that point taken at a different time.

 

Not necessarily. Were Google to actually do this, who's to say that they'd have to use an NB? They could use a small GRP and not have to worry about constantly having the bow and stern in the picture.

[mayalld]

Not necessarily. Were Google to actually do this, who's to say that they'd have to use an NB? They could use a small GRP and not have to worry about constantly having the bow and stern in the picture.

 

The essential feature would be that no part of the superstructure is in the field of view of the fisheye lens on the camera.

[Chris J W]

The essential feature would be that no part of the superstructure is in the field of view of the fisheye lens on the camera.

 

Precisely. Get a boat about the same length as the cars/vans and you're sorted.

[mayalld]

Precisely. Get a boat about the same length as the cars/vans and you're sorted.

 

The cars have the camera quite high above the car roof.

 

Not really practical on a boat

[Chris J W]

The cars have the camera quite high above the car roof.

 

Not really practical on a boat

 

Why not? Raise as required, drop as required. Tunnel entry and low-bridge details could be done by hand if needs be.

[mayalld]

Why not? Raise as required, drop as required. Tunnel entry and low-bridge details could be done by hand if needs be.

 

OK, I'll run a sweepstake on how soon somebody manages to run many thousands of pounds worth of kit into a bridge