Google Street View Comes to Thailand

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

Story here, with links to the program (although you can also find it just by going to Google Street View).

360-degree views of the streets of Bangkok; Chiang Mai, the northern capital; and Phuket in the South. Now you can visit Thailand without leaving home.

Seems Google’s had better luck with Thailand than elsewhere in Asia. Excerpt:

**"In Japan, for example, Google was required to reshoot its street level photos in 12 cities in 2009 after complaints the 360-degree camera, set atop a vehicle plying Japan’s narrow streets, was photographing the insides of people’s homes.

"And in South Korea its Seoul offices were raided in 2010 after police discovered that the Street View vehicle was not just taking photos but also capturing data over Wi-Fi networks.

“In India, Google’s plans to capture street-level images of Bangalore were blocked by Indian police in 2011. Google says it is in discussions with the Indian government ‘on ways to move forward’.”**

#2

I noticed that most faces, license plates, and some items that might have displayed logos, like purses or handbags, are blurred out. I wonder if that is a lot of hand editing work for someone.

#3

I’m pretty sure most of that is done automatically. Google has some world class image recognition technologies. You can sometimes see face-like images blurred.

#4

Yes, it often blurs out people in adverts. Also, annoyingly, it often blurs out street name signs, presumably because they look similar to license plates. Sometimes I’ll want to check the spelling of a street on the sign itself (as sometimes maps have them spelt wrong), and it’s blurred out.