Google Maps Street View: How did they do that?

Unless you've been under a rock this past week, you've likely heard about Google Maps new Street View feature. In a few select cities you can now view a street-level, panoramic photograph of the selected area--not exactly an original feature but novel nonetheless. The photos might only have been available for a few days now but folks are already loving, hating and complaining about them (check the link below for the story of a distressed, cat-owning privacy advocate). So how did they do it? It turns out that in some cities like New York, Google licensed the panoramic photos from Immersive Media, a company that specializes in 360-degree videos. The folks at Immersive drive around special vehicles that are outfitted with an 11-camera device on the top of their hood. That's not the only way that Google is getting their photos, however: the company has allegedly been driving its own van, outfitted with higher-res cameras than those used by Immersive, around the Bay Area.

For more on Immersive Media:
- see this article from BoingBoing

For more on Google Maps privacy concerns:
- see this article in the New York Times