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Winelands go "Google-eyed"
South Africa is leading the world by having its wine estates listed on Google Street View to create the most comprehensive database of wineries imagery in the world.
Google is currently adding 19 more South African wine estates to Street View after 12 were loaded in June when Google launched Street View in South Africa ahead of the Soccer World Cup, says Google SA's Communications Manager, Julie Taylor. Its initial offering in South Africa also includes amongst others 27 towns and cities, seven soccer stadia, the Kruger National Park and Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, totalling about 65 000km of images.
Street View - offered free by Goggle to invited destinations - adds another dimension to Google Maps with 360-degree street-level images taken by Google cars and trikes, which take nine pictures every 10m. It allows Google users to view and navigate through streets and cities and now also through vineyards and historic farm buildings. Google is also running workshops for Cape wine farms to teach them how to use its geo tools to improve their online presence.
South Africa is the first country in Africa to get Street View imagery in Google Maps, the most popular map service worldwide. Launched in 2007, Street View is now available in more than 100 countries, on more then 350 000 websites and in 40 languages, now also including Afrikaans and Zulu. It is the largest photographic project ever done by mankind.
Comments Cape Town Tourism CEO, Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold, "With the success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it is important to keep the momentum going and continue to showcase what South Africa - and particularly Cape Town - can offer as a tourist destination. The expansion of winelands imagery on Street View will no doubt encourage local and international tourists to come and explore this part of the country further."
Richard Cheary of Afrozaar, a mobile and web solutions company, sees the marketing capabilities of Google's geo products expanding. "Google Maps and Street View capabilities provide a powerful platform to be creative, for example, the creation of downloadable virtual tourism tours, incorporating multimedia. This can be complemented by mobile applications, comprising travel directions and preloaded tourist information." He says all tourism businesses can benefit from Street View technology by embedding Google Maps directly into their website free of charge, helping them to promote their services.
How to use Google Street View
In areas where Street View is available, you can see the images on Google Maps (on a PC or Internet-enabled mobile) by zooming into the lowest level, or by dragging the orange "Pegman" icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street. By moving the mouse you can take a virtual walk through a street. To get directions from Point A to Point B, your route will be highlighted in blue on the map. Street View also incorporates images uploaded by Internet users through other websites such as Flickr, the image hosting website. This enables users to blend the Google imagery with the other images for a more detailed view of the virtual surroundings.
In areas where Street View is available, you can see the images on Google Maps (on a PC or Internet-enabled mobile) by zooming into the lowest level, or by dragging the orange "Pegman" icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street. By moving the mouse you can take a virtual walk through a street. To get directions from Point A to Point B, your route will be highlighted in blue on the map. Street View also incorporates images uploaded by Internet users through other websites such as Flickr, the image hosting website. This enables users to blend the Google imagery with the other images for a more detailed view of the virtual surroundings.
Google says to safeguard privacy Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads and features technology that blurs faces and license plates. Users can also flag images for removal that they consider inappropriate by clicking on "report a problem". To learn more about Street View, visit www.google.co.za/streetview.
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