Google puts our streets on the map
The new feature will allow visitors to the site to navigate their way around almost any street or road in the country, while businesses and tourism chiefs have already hailed it as a valuable tool in helping to sell Ireland to overseas investors and tourists.
The distinctive Google cars and trikes spent the last 18 months driving around the country, photographing each roadway and street, which can now be accessed online or on mobile phones.
Yesterday, Google’s geospatial expert Ed Parsons declared the street view system was “the best free advertising this country will ever enjoy”, while Tourism Minister Mary Hanafin said it could prove a boon for tourism and businesses.
There have been some issues over data protection, however, and Google admits that its computer systems may still have missed some items – such as offensive graffiti – which will need to be cleaned up once they are alerted to it from members of the public.
Ireland is the 25th country to feature in Google Street View since it was first launched in America in 2007, but some countries have taken a dimmer view of the technology than Ireland, with the Czech Office for Personal Data Protection refusing Google a licence to collect new images for its Street View.
Those using Street View visit the site and zoom in on a particular area, where they pull and drag a ‘Pegman’ icon to a specific street or roadway. They can then manipulate the view 360 degrees and virtually walk around the area, using photos that have been stitched together digitally.
Licence plates on cars and people’s faces have been blurred out, although Google admits some may have slipped through the net. Anyone wishing to have their property removed from Street View can do so by clicking on a link at the bottom of the page, although Ed Parsons said only “a very small number of people” had done at the time the photographs were taken.
The Google vehicles travelled 51,000 miles to take all the images, while its trikes took in areas unreachable by cars, such as Fota Wildlife Park, Dublin Zoo and the Aviva Stadium.
Ed Parsons said images for some streets or parts of the country may need to be renewed in three years time, but that almost all roads and laneways had been covered, including some of the islands.
At yesterday’s launch Fáilte Ireland, the Arts Council, Chambers Ireland and housing site Daft.ie all welcomed the new service.
A nationwide poll launched today will allow visitors to the Street View site to vote for Ireland’s favourite places in four categories – city life, cultural areas, natural wonders and hidden gems – with the results to be published in November.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
