Google's immersive Street View could well be a glimpse of metaverse

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Fifteen years after its launch, a Google Maps feature that lets people explore faraway places as though standing right there is providing a glimpse of the metaverse being heralded as the future of the internet.

There was not yet talk of online life moving to virtual worlds when a "far-fetched" musing by Google co-founder Larry Page prompted Street View, which lets users of the company's free navigation service see imagery of map locations from the perspective of being there.

Now the metaverse is a tech-world buzz, with companies including Facebook parent Meta investing in creating online realms where people represented by videogame-like characters work, play, shop and more.

"Larry Page took a video camera and stuck it out the window of his car," Google senior technical program manager Steven Silverman said, while showing AFP the garage where the company builds cameras for cars, bikes, backpacks, and even snowmobiles dispatched to capture 360-degree images worldwide.

"He was talking to some of his colleagues at the time, saying, 'I bet we can do something with this.' That was the start of Street View."

Street View lets people click on locations in Google Maps to see what it might look like were they at that spot, and even look around.

Now, the internet behemoth is introducing an "immersive view" that fuses Street View images with artificial intelligence to create "a rich, digital model of the world," Miriam Daniel, Google Maps Experiences vice president, said in a post.

"You'll be able to experience what a neighborhood, landmark, restaurant or popular venue is like -- and even feel like you're right there before you ever set foot inside," Daniel said.

"With a quick search, you can virtually soar over Westminster to see the