This article led me to a powerful new application from Google in fifteen cities that provides a street view. If you go to maps.google.com and select “street view” on the mapping screen and then click anywhere with an outline in blue, you are taken to the street view window which lets you move about. Very neat. You have to see for yourself though. Raises some interesting questions about the effect this might have on interpretation, both providing tours and training tour guides online.
The article is here:
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/005654.html
An example from Pittsburgh follows:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=504+Grant+Street,+Pittsburgh,+PA&sll=40.440774,-79.996219&sspn=0.005953,0.014269&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=40.441999,-79.996798&spn=0.011905,0.028539&z=16&om=1&cbll=40.43955,-79.996805&cbp=1,171.33254941395174,0.5,0,-23.493199723754394