9개의 국가에서 유효한 세계전반, 온라인 서비스는 2007년에 미국을 위해 처음으로 발사되었다. 당신은 Google 지도로 주소 또는 우편 번호를 타자를 치고 그것의 정체되는 사진을 찾아낼 수 있다, 또는 (거리가 강조하는 파랑일 한) 당신이 좋아한다 어디든지 당신은 지도의 맞은편에 `Pegman에게' (그는 옷 나무못과 같이 보인다) 불린 작은 불안정한 주황색 아이콘을 끌고 그를 떨어뜨릴 수 있다.

지역의 심상은 갑자기 나타나고 당신은 그 때 그것을 자전하기 위하여 화살을 이용할 수 있다. 당신이 사용하는 경우에 Google는 움직일 수 있는 심상을 당신이 분실되게 얻지 않는다는 것을 지키기 위하여, 당신의 노선 동반될 것이다 여행을 계획하기 위하여 지도로 나타낸다.

최대 첫번째 거리 전망 Googlers 같이, 나는 나의 자신의 편평한을 처음에 교활한 fag를 즐겨 도로의 맞은편에 선술집 이상으로 정규병을 보기 위하여 찾아, 전망 회전시킨. 이 무해한 위치는 도시의 알아볼 수 있는 경계표 보다는 재미를 더 증명하는가? 어느 것이 또한 사실상 그림엽서일지도 모르는가? 글래스고에 있는 Byres 도로 에딘버러에 있는 왕 마일과 같은 복잡한 거리가 입증하더라도 사실상에게 사람들 보기를 위한 재미 (논쟁이 우리가 Sauchiehall 거리에 외부 라발핀디의 인도 대중음식점을 더럽힌다 이다?)

훔쳐보는 취미 성분은 거리 전망의 entertaining 용도의 한을 입증한다. 나는 나의 사실상 각자 및 친구' 나가 1개의 지인의 거실의 창으로 다만에 관하여 볼 다는 것을 것을이 발견하는 집을 더럽히는 것을 시도하도록 나의 서식지를 전부 찾는다.

이 양상은, 당연히, 기밀의 개척에 관한 아주 진짜 우려를 제기한다. Last year, Google was investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office over the plans, but was eventually given the go-ahead for the project. Street View uses special technology to blur registration plates and faces (resulting in some cases in the blurring of the faces of statues or horses) and users can flag up images for removal by clicking on a ‘Report a concern’ link.

Google argues that the level of detail shown is the same as that you would see driving down a road (hence the reason 10 Downing Street is not visible).

While critics argue that the service could be used to plan crimes, Google UK’s new head, Matt Brittin, said that in discussions with the Metropolitan police, they found that the service helps to track and monitor crime. Indeed, on one occasion police in the US used Street View to find the location of a kidnapped child.

However, some campaigners claim that it violates our right to privacy. “These images are being captured without people’s permission for commercial use and we believe that it is not legally acceptable,” Simon Davies of Privacy International told a reporter yesterday. “They are also putting into place a system for updating these images in the future, and for storing the images digitally where they could be misused.”

So could a man put his home address into Street View only to spot his wife greeting the milkman in a rather-too-friendly manner? Could a boss search for their place of work and catch their employees at the back door having a sneaky cigarette? Certainly, Street View has inadvertantly caught people red-handed (albeit retrospectively) on more than one occasion.

The tens of millions of pictures were obtained last summer, when a fleet of Google cars nipped across the nation capturing images ? which were later stitched together ? on special 360-degree cameras that were mounted on their roofs. Difficult weather conditions held up the process in many cases: dry, overcast days proved most effective for getting clear pictures, but last summer those were few and far between.

So for what will we use Street View? Google suggests you might employ it to preview your holiday accommodation, show friends abroad where you live, check out local amenities if you’re moving to a new area, or check out the level of wheelchair access a building or area has before you visit.

“Street View has been hugely popular with our users in Europe and worldwide; we’re thrilled it’s now available in the UK for so many great cities,” says Google’s geospatial technologist, Ed Parsons. “Google Maps and Google Earth have long been popular with British people and are used by governments, businesses and individuals as essential and informative tools every day of the week ? (this] now adds a new dimension.”

Street View has also teamed up with other organisations, including FindaProperty.com, which allows users to look at the local area before they view a property to rent or buy (a service that would certainly have saved me some time last year, when I wrote off a potential flat upon finding it was located opposite a suspicious-looking sauna) and Tate, who will offer art lovers links to locations that have inspired paintings in their galleries.

All practical uses certainly, but Street View is also ? quite simply ? an addictive resource. Once you get the hang of it, you can zip around a city, exploring less familiar areas from the comfort of your desk and getting excited when you spot all your favourite places. (Some are more interesting than others of course ? there’s something rather sinister about sitting indoors on a sunny day, taking a virtual tour of the A199 in East Lothian.)

In countries where the service has been established for a while, spotting weird and wacky things on Street View has evolved into something of a sport.

From nudity to thieves escaping through windows and even a man dressed as a beehive, entire websites are now devoted to bizarre Street View sightings.

So with the service now up and running in Scotland, what strange Street View spots might we clock up? A Morningside Lady shoplifting a cream scone, perhaps? Naked sunbathing in Kelvingrove Park? Fred Goodwin nipping out to collect his pension? Log on to maps.google.co.uk to find out.

MILES BETTER

? ORGANISERS said that London was the most difficult place to drive for Street View because of its many one-way streets and high buildings, and a lack of parking areas.

? SOME areas are yet to be visible on Street View, owing to road works taking place when Google was in town. Edinburgh’s Princes Street and George Street, for example, aren’t yet available to view.

? THE Google team covered 22,369 miles across 25 cities in the UK to launch the service in Britain.

? ONE imaginative Google employee used Street View to propose to his girlfriend.

? STREET View provides 360? horizontal and 290? vertical panoramic street-level views.

? FOR pedestrian areas and narrow streets that cannot be accessed by car, Google Bikes are used instead.

? THE ultimate aim, Google claims, is to eventually provide street views of the whole world.

? IN order to protect their privacy, before the service was launched, Google removed photos of domestic-violence shelters.

? THE Pentagon, right, has banned Google from publishing Street View content of US military bases.

? A US couple sued Google unsuccessfully for invasion of privacy, stating that because their home was visible on Street View, its value was diminished because it had been chosen for its privacy.