MANILA – January 28, 2014 – The streets of the Metro Manila made their debut on Google Maps as Google Philippines today launched Google Street View, making the country one of over 50 countries around the world that can be viewed using the tool.
Street View is a feature of Google Maps that allows users to get a panoramic, street-level view of specific locations. Images are captured by cameras mounted on Street View cars, trolleys and trekkers (a contraption that people can wear on like backpacks). The cameras are arranged in a sphere, and are meant to capture 360-degree views.
Street View is free for public use and, like the Maps feature, will remain ad-free. As Google Philippines Country Marketing Manager Ryan Morales shared, the feature can be used by everyone for different purposes, whether personal or professional.
"In terms of public good, its been used for example, during forest fires in the United States, where rescue operators were able to see certain areas before they dove in to the disaster areas that made it safer for them so they knew what places were susceptible to fire, what’s a safe place where there’s not a lot of flammable buildings," Morales told adobo.
"And there’s personal stories too, people that have tried to look for homes that they haven’t seen for years, people that have wanted to go to different stores and they couldn’t quite remember the address but they knew it was in a certain area…There are dozens and dozens of stories like that, if not hundreds," he added.
According to Tourism secretary Ramon Jimenez, the feature also allows for a more detailed promotion of the Philippines as a tourist spot.
"It is far and away the most immersive photographic experience so far devised because you are going from a satellite view so right away there’s context to what you’re looking at, what part of the Philippines, how far from Manila, how far from Japan if you will," he told adobo.
"And then you’re getting down into a street view level that makes you understand exactly what those places and where those places are in relation to everything else. A single photograph is not going to do any of that for you. It is probably the closest thing to being there as you might imagine," he said.
Addressing the issue of privacy, Morales explained at the launch that Street View is used in public areas only, does not show locations in real time, blurs license plates and faces automatically, and allows users to report images they want removed.
Street Views of certain areas in Intramuros are now live on Google Maps, and according to Morales Street View driving will begin today in Metro Manila, so more images will be available soon.
