Tag: Google Street View

Google Debuts App For User-Generated Panoramic Street Views

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Google has relaunched its old “Photo Sphere Camera” app as a new “Street View” app to further tap into user-generated 360-degree imagery to improve the overall Google Maps experience. The new app will allow users to create panoramic “photo spheres” and share them to Google Map as well as browsing through photo spheres shared by others.

What Brands Should Do
As Google continues to improves its Maps with more brand-friendly, hyperlocal features, brands would be smart to get on board so as to reach the consumers searching on mobile for local inquiries. One way that brands can use this new app, for instance, would be to create virtual tours of their storefronts to appeal to potential customers searching for store locations with an immersive experience.

 

Source: TechCrunch
Header image taken from Google Street View in App Store

JCDecaux’s Witty B2B Stunt Has Earned Media Implications

Posted on by Lab Team

JCDecaux’s recent stunt was a pretty clever way of getting advertisers attention. They went on Google Street view to find which advertisers OOH placements had been documented on the service, sending them an invoice for the digital impressions. This was a stunt to get advertisers to listen to their sales pitch, but it raises an interesting point about the future of earned media. As we increasingly document the world around us, every OOH placement has legs far beyond those physical impressions. Google Street view is just one example but advertisers need to factor in all the earned media. As geotagging and image identification get more precise, expect this to be part of the standardized reporting. 

Leap Motion Controller is Becoming a Virtual Steering Wheel

Posted on by Lab Team

Hold your arm out in front of you. Why isn’t your computer reacting? Toronto-based design firm Teehan+Lax is seeking to fix that unresponsive box of disappointment on your desk by attaching the oft-discussed Leap Motion controller, and giving users a unique way of cruising Google Street view.  The potential of the motion controller is great.  Users have the opportunity to virtually “drive” legendary stretches of road worldwide, or gesturally control a myriad of applications, truly bringing their computers into the future with the sort of functionality many of us expected to have by now.