DIY Google Street View Project?

Ismenio writes "Does anyone have any ideas for a do-it-yourself Google-Street-View-like project on the cheap? I am planning to visit a few places outside the US that are important to me, and would like to be able to set up a site for friends and family to visit and give them the Street View-like experience so that they could navigate, pan and zoom in the areas I have. Though being able to use GPS coordinates would be great, that's certainly something I can do without. I know I can take pictures and stitch them together to create panoramic views, but I would like to be able to also navigate though some streets. Would it make sense to record it with an HD camera, then batch export frames as pictures? Is there any software in the open source community that I can use?" Ismenio includes links to some related pages: Popular Mechanics' look at the camera tech used for Street View, and a company that claims better panoramic image technology than Google's.

Sounds like a big project

[mikael_j]

I doubt it would be worth the effort to create a google street-view clone for your own personal use, you'd either have to carry around a set of cameras the whole time or stay in your car (with the camera(s) mounted on the car).

Personally I've built a small website that shows images I've uploaded from my iPhone using Google Maps, a pretty simple solution that doesn't require a lot of expensive equipment nor a very advanced software setup (on the server it's just apache+mod_python+mysql and a couple of small python scripts for creating thumbnails of the uploaded images.

/Mikael

Microsoft Photosynth

[That's Unpossible!]

Purchase a GPS logger, carry it with you everywhere while you take pictures. Or even better, buy/rent a camera with GPS built in.

Next, upload your photos into Microsoft Photosynth. http://photosynth.net/ [photosynth.net]

I've seen demos where it can synthesize multiple photos based on GPS data, and present them in a mapping mode where you can 'walk down the street' using your photos, and other people's photos from the area. Not sure what capabilities have been released in this regard, yet, to the general public.

Re:I worked on this for a while....

[Anonymous Coward]

try an elphel.

Re:Obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

Moreover, what exactly is the OP looking to accomplish that can't be accomplished by sending a link to google showing where he's been.
It's not like the streets are going to look different just because you walked on them.

Re:Why not do a Mashup?

[Bught_42]

Because he's going "a few places outside the US", and unless he's going to the France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, or the UK that leaves him out of luck.
Street View still has fairly limited coverage compared to the world's streets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Street_View [wikipedia.org]

Be careful

[e9th]

You didn't say what countries you'll be visiting, but you should check with the locals before you do much photography. Even where not strictly illegal, you might find yourself answering some pointed questions if the cops see you taking panoramic views of anything even remotely "sensitive".