Street View, a cool feature of Google Maps, is ready to capture the streets of the Philippines, allowing people abroad to walk our streets at any time, no matter where they are.
Time to say hello to the rest of the world.
The Street View cars have officially rolled out today, as was the announcement of Google Philippines and the Department of Tourism’s official partnership in preserving our landscapes to promote the country’s tourism industry to the world.
The famous walled city of Intramuros was the first heritage site that got the Street View treatment, with Trekkers – back-mounted camera systems used by Google – providing what practically amounts to a free walking tour of the city.
The Street View cars and Trekkers will be roaming Metro Manila starting today, and will capture life on the streets. Expect the Google fleet to expand their journey to other parts of the Philippines within the year. The Philippines joins over 50 other countries that can be “toured” using Street View, and should help anyone, not just Pinoys, learn more about our country for free.
One curious thing about this whole experience is privacy and the Filipino’s undying love affair with appearing in photos. While Google uses face and license plate-blurring technology, I’m expecting to see a lot of local Street View images with people, especially children, waving at the cameras despite blurred faces.
Within the next few months, expect to encounter an SUV with a curious contraption mounted on its roof, or several people with the Trekkers on their backs. If you see one, don’t forget to wave!
“We can’t wait to share the new panoramic road imagery of the Philippines on Google Maps when the imagery launches on a later date,” said Ryan Morales, Google’s Country Marketing Manager.
Here’s the official launch video of Street View Philippines:
The question now is how to become an official driver for one of the Street View cars. Dream job? You bet!
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