Google Street View lands in Curitiba

From now one, Curitiba will be mapped for Google Street View - feature that displays maps at 360 degrees for multiple locations on the website launched in 2007 and finally reaches the state capital. The images started to be captured this month, but Google doesn't tell how long it will takes or how many cars are in town. Also the company doesn't confirm when the images will be available, but it might happen little by little, by region. The Street View in an additional service o Google Maps, which has a set of maps of all cities and streets in the world.

The project is also mapping other capitals, and the Google proposal is to offer the service by 2014 in all cities hosting World Cup games. Since October last year, 51 Brazilian cities are already mapped. In total, 82 cars in Brazil are doing the job of capturing the images, and each car has 15 cameras. In capturing images of busy streets, where many people appear, Google uses software that blurs faces and license plates automatically, to prevent them from being identified and, according to the company, ensuring the privacy of individuals. The cameras installed in cars capture images of the horizon and sky, providing an image of 360 degrees horizontally and 280 degrees vertically. When photographing the streets, a GPS marks images for the computer to identify where is the place.

To use the Google Street View is necessary to access the website maps.google.com. Once you find the street, just drag the yellow stick man Pegman, located in the upper left corner of the screen or give the maximum magnification on the map. To "walk the streets", just click the arrows in the image, making the user go to the next screen. To view an image, you must click and drag the mouse.