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For someone that is looking for a bike trainer but can`t stand the thought of the boredom that entails, this maybe the best thing to keep you interested. Imagine one day cycling through New York, next day Moscow and then the UK countryside all without leaving the house and all without the possibility of getting hit by a truck.

Linking Google Streetview to a bike is the future I tell ya (all for about $500) – and when, one day, Google decides to implicate the video panoramas that we all know they have – this will be better than actually going on cycling holidays (if there is such a thing which I’m sure there is – well I notice an asparagus cooking holiday the other day so I`m sure there is a niche for cyclists — maybe even a niche for pink wearing cyclists from West Ham)

OK – it’s more of a great use of the API but using the word Hack gives more steet(view) cred – So they called it a hack.

Navigate round certain parts of London using Streetview and stumble across areas where the band are hanging out and streaming their new album ‘In This Light And On This Evening’

Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth that provides 360 horizontal and 290 vertical wide ranging perspectives from a row of positions along the street for many streets in the world, from a height of about 2.5 metres.

Coverage is shown by dragging a “pegman” icon from its position, onto a map of any scale.

occasionally Google Trikes ( tricycles ) are used.[4] On each of these automobiles ( and tricycles ) there are 9 directional cameras for the 360 perspectives, GPS units for positioning, 3 laser range scanners, made by SICK, for the measuring of at least fifty meters 180 in the front of the auto.

On the vehicles there also are 3G / GSM / Wi-Fi antennas for scanning 3G / GSM and Wi-Fi hotspots.[5] Latterly , ‘high quality’ pictures ( better quality than the 1st ) are based on open-source hardware cameras from Elphel. These cameras are also utilized by Google book search.[6].

Where available, street view photographs appear after zooming in outside the highest zooming level in maps and satellite images, and also by dragging a “pegman” icon onto a location on a map.

Using the keyboard or mouse the horizontal and vertical viewing direction and the zoom level can be selected. At junctions and crossings of camera automobile routes, more arrows are shown. On Nov twenty-one, 2008, Street View was added to the Maps application installed on the Apple iPhone and Apple iPod Touch. On December ten, 2008, Street View was added to the Maps application for S60 third Edition.

Street View has also been added to the Windows Mobile and BlackBerry versions of Google Maps. All versions of Google Maps for Android feature Street View, and the digital compass can be employed to look around the locations.

Google Earth has had a major upgrade which now enables you to zoom in and swim through the deepest oceans. Certainly places that would not want to go in person (without a huge nitrous tank).

It looks a little empty at the moment – I`m sure soon they will have random wales and sharks in there which will give a sense of scale that’s not there yet.

Another cool feature is that you can go back in time with a scroller – I went back to 1960 in Jurien Bay in Australia, and it was just a few shacks.

One great feature it seems it that 360cities is on by default – meaning our virtual tours are seem by all.

Your Name:
Leszek Cuper

Company website:
www.panoramy.pl

What is the subject of the tour?
Virtual Opole

How Many people worked on this tour?
Just Me!

What photographic Equipment did you use?
Nikon D300, Nikkor 10.5

What Software did you find most useful?
PTGui, FPP (virtual tour)

More information:
Virtual tour of Opole – the capital of Upper Silesia, Poland. Short intro, 25 high resolution panoramas, sound hotspots, maps, detail photos, descriptions and much more.

Your Name:
U?ur Akbulut

Company website:
http://www.ugurakbulut.com

What is the subject of the tour?
Showcase

How Many people worked on this tour?
Just Me!

What photographic Equipment did you use?
Canon Eos 20D, Sigma 8mm F3.5 EX DG, Manfrotto 190DB, Manfrotto SPH303

What Software did you find most useful?
PTGUI, PANO2VR, Photoshop CS3

360 cities have done some great Google mashup work with their new browser using KRpano, which has the useful addition of multi-resolution panoramas. This feature is very useful when sites feature a small pano preview then can automatically load higher resolutions when the viewer goes fullscreen.

All we need now is a great GUI.

Thanks to Ren Yifei who pointed out this virtual tour of a Brazilian Hotel using FFP and a host of plugins. One cool feature is the Day and night options. Shame it makes you view it fullscreen – I don`t like being made to do anything

This is a great tour by Tom Mills at VRwebdesign.

For a long time I have thought that when a virtual tour can stand on its own as an interactive website, then it is this aspect alone that will increase the popularity of virtual tours and panoramas. This tour stands up on its own, it doesn’t need more information.

The music defiantly adds to the ambiance of the subject and the Googlemap api (although a little hidden) is great. This is a true example that today – panoramas alone are not enough.

I did find the navigation a little strange and couldn`t understand why the next pano was loading at times, but the photography is great.

Panedia is a large project taking place in Australia – incorporating over 3000 hi quality panos. One of the newest and most interesting/clever features is the site’s ability to automatically create hotspots with each panorama using GPS data other algorithms from nearby views. The hotspot window also contains the distance & bearing to that panorama from the one you are in.

View an example here – the guys at Panedia are not stopping here so expect big announcements in the future.