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Camera Vans To Photograph 50 Million Buildings 470

Posted by timothy from the cat-detector-van dept.
dritan writes "A new van unveiled at CeBIT America is equipped with 50 digital cameras and takes pictures every 15 feet -- with the goal of photographing 50 million buildings in the country. These photos could be cross-referenced with aerial photographs so that law enforcement or insurance agencies can get overhead and street level views of the same location -- just by entering an address." Time to hang out the "Hi, Mom!" signs.
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Camera Vans To Photograph 50 Million Buildings More

Camera Vans To Photograph 50 Million Buildings

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  • Tinfoil sales skyrocket (Score:5, Funny)

    by ericspinder ( 146776 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:04PM (#9260652) Journal
    Great, now I'll have to wrap my whole house!

  • logical question (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:06PM (#9260671)
    is it legal?

    • Re:logical question (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You can legally photograph anything you see in public (i.e. from the streets).
      • But if you photograph people, or copyrighted things, don't you need permissions for some uses of your photographs? Like, distribution? Including distribution to law enformcent and insurance agencies?

        • Re:logical question (Score:3, Informative)

          by Pooua ( 265915 )
          But if you photograph people, or copyrighted things, don't you need permissions for some uses of your photographs?

          No permission is needed to take pictures of a group of people, if their faces are not recognizable or the photography is for private use. The photographs may be sold if the faces are not recognizable. If the faces are recognizable, and the photographs are for commercial and public distribution, then it would be wise to get a signed release form from the subject. Celebrities do not fall under

      • Re:logical question (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Steve Franklin ( 142698 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:14PM (#9260787) Homepage Journal
        As many genealogists know, there are entire archives of fire insurance photographs of many homes and other buildings from the 1880s to 1970. This is nothing new, except for the correlation with satellite images.

    • Re:logical question (Score:5, Informative)

      by morcheeba ( 260908 ) * on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:17PM (#9260827) Journal
      Cryptome [cryptome.org] just linked to The Photographer's Rights (pdf, 147kB) [krages.com] - it's a good reference, but it basically says you can photograph anything visible from public property except national-security-restricted-places and places where people have secluded themselves to have an expectation of privacy (their bathroom).
      • anything visible from public property except national-security-restricted-places and places where people have secluded themselves to have an expectation of privacy (their bathroom)

        If those people wanted privacy, you'd THINK they'd know about bathroom curtains...

      • Re:logical question (Score:4, Interesting)

        by ron_ivi ( 607351 ) <sdotno@cheapcomp ... s.com minus poet> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:31PM (#9260968)
        I thought upskirt photos up short skirts are illegal in many communities even in places where people have not secluded themselves.

        Looks like the feds may outlaw this too [avn.com].

        5/20/2004
        ... ban on upskirt photos and other kinds of video voyeurism by cell phone cameras, minicams, and other such technology, passed the House Judiciary Committee May 19.
        By this law, you don't have to "have secluded themselves", as the parent post suggests - just to have "a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding such body part or parts".

        So what happens if someone's wearing a short skirt when the truck goes by?

    • Re:logical question (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Carnildo ( 712617 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:18PM (#9260839) Homepage Journal
      Yes. This is just a database of publicly-available information: the outside appearances of buildings. No privacy or copyright concerns.

    • Re:logical question (Score:5, Interesting)

      by gnu-generation-one ( 717590 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:44PM (#9261082) Homepage
      "is it legal?"

      Ask the guy who was arrested for taking photographs of the White House.

      (answer: it's legal for some people, and not for others)
      • Verily.

        In fact, the basis of law in not equality (as people like myself posit it should be), but in fact the basis of law is priviledge. And if you look at the roots of the word, privi-ledge, you get private-law. That is to say, those laws which are to be enforced must always be enforced unequally. If every law were enforced on every person, then we would find ourselves caught in the "That which is not prohibited is mandated, that which is not mandated is prohibited" situation (which presumably precludes

    • Re:logical question (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Ra5pu7in ( 603513 ) <ra5pu7in@gm a i l . com> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @03:25PM (#9261454) Journal
      There was a recent case with Barbara Streisand related to whether photographs that included private property belonged in the public domain. Her beachfront home was part of a whole series of coastline photos. Basically, she lost. IANAL, but I don't think the principle would be any different.

      It is necessary to get permission to publish a picture of a person, but it is not necessary to get the permission of every person in the background of a picture. Often pictures of apartments or businesses include people who happened to walk by at that moment. The line may have to do with the focus of the picture, but IANAL, so I would have to research that further.

  • (sigh) better go make sure the lawn is mowed. (Score:5, Funny)

    by The I Shing ( 700142 ) * on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:06PM (#9260673) Journal
    Oh, great. I just hope when they photograph my house the lawn is mowed and the hedges are trimmed.

    Still, this would be a great way to find out who has lawn gnomes, plastic flamingos, and those fat-lady-bending-over things in their gardens.

    • Re:(sigh) better go make sure the lawn is mowed. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Auckerman ( 223266 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:12PM (#9260763)
      "Still, this would be a great way to find out who has lawn gnomes, plastic flamingos, and those fat-lady-bending-over things in their gardens.

      Funny, but you make a very good point. Should this database leak into the "wrong hands" that has access to a competent programmer, targeted robberies could increase. Cross correlations are you friend. Get enough RAM and find the neighborhoods with new sports cars and a little more research and in one night a crew can have at it. Who knew theft could be so efficient?
      • You don't need this database to do that: if you've lived in a city for a year or more, you probably have a good idea of which neighborhoods are rich, which are poor, and which are trouble spots. From there, you just drive through your target neighborhood looking for places that would make good targets. No need for a computer, and your surveillence will be more up-to-date.

        • Re:(sigh) better go make sure the lawn is mowed. (Score:5, Insightful)

          by demaria ( 122790 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:29PM (#9260952) Homepage
          A year? Heck you can do all that with public records. Just look up house prices, school taxes and crime rate per 100K. There's half your information right there. Or just drive around a city for an hour. Worrying that this system will lead to increased targeted crime is silly.
          • I once worked at a 'Telephone services' company developing their customer information system.

            There are service companies that provide copious information on people just by giving them a phone number.

            They can find your name, address, occupation, marital status, number of children, ages of children, household income, number of vehicles, value of the property and all kinds of demographic information.

            Mind you, this information doesn't come cheap. It cost 5 cents.

            And you can get way better information with a
      • It seems like it would be a great way to case out places like banks and liquour stores for a cross-country crime spree. Ahh gotta love all the wonderful uses of technology.

      • Re:(sigh) better go make sure the lawn is mowed. (Score:4, Interesting)

        by wwest4 ( 183559 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:35PM (#9261006)
        I think many municipalities (including my own) already have a freely available, online database of home and landowners, complete with curbside photos. Other information is available in hard form, you need only to go to the town records repository and ask. This isn't really new.

        In my experience, thieves are generally pretty poor at what they do, though I'm sure there are a few adept ones. They do their "site surveys" on foot and take the most useless and worthless stuff. E.g. burglars stole my shitty stereo (w/o the faceplate), my cds and $20 binoculars, but they left a (very portable) $400 unicycle in the back seat. The parts could easily have been stripped and sold to BMXers for way more than the other stuff.

        • They steal this kind of stuff because it can be crammed in a trash bag in under 5 minutes, and because it's very liquid, i.e. they can easily sell it at a pawn shop without attracting much attention. Selling a crappy stereo may net $20, but the unicycle is pretty unique, and is going to attract trouble, so its value is probably in the negative when you figure the cost of hiding from the law. Detachable-face stereos, or other lame anti-theft gizmos aren't really that effective; It's not like the devices can'
      • This is a stupid comment. Robbers already KNOW where the rich neighbourhoods are. How do I know this? Because I know where the rich neighbourhoods are. I look for sparse residential areas with big houses and few trees. Chances are somebody rich lives there.

        And if you need a lot of RAM to figure out which house on my block has the Porsche parked in front of it, methinks you need to spend some time away from the computer.

  • All your base! (Score:5, Funny)

    by CriX ( 628429 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:06PM (#9260679)
    I'll be hanging my "All your base.." sign :)

    • Re:All your base! (Score:5, Funny)

      by TheCarp ( 96830 ) * <sjc.carpanet@net> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:12PM (#9260761) Homepage
      All your base... in streings of IR LEDs... thats the way to go.

      I always wanted to put a sign with IR LEDs on the roof for when the police were using their IR cameras to look for people growing plants in their houses.
      (something like "Stop wasting my tax dollars")

      Then the supreme court went and ruled they need a warrent for that shit... took all the fun out of my day.

      -Steve

      • Re:All your base! (Score:5, Funny)

        by sTalking_Goat ( 670565 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:43PM (#9261070) Homepage
        ...IR cameras to look for people growing plants in their houses.

        Great now I have to install heat shielding in the roof of my basment, or get busted for my personal use mar...umm...I mean rose garden.

        • Re:All your base! (Score:3, Informative)

          by drinkypoo ( 153816 )
          The roof of your basement? Many of us call that a floor.

          Want to foil aerial IR surveys? Install (water heating) solar on your roof.

          People tend to grow marijuana in the hills under madrone and manzanita because the (relatively) high water content of those plants mask the IR signature from above. You still have to bury your drip irrigation lines, though.

      • you wouldnt need IR LEDs... those FLIR cameras are so powerful, all you'd need is to use something that has a different temperature than your roof as a writing material.

        of course, using flashing signs made with IR LEDs would be sure to catch the attention of camera operator.

        I once had this halfbaked idea of modding a car with IR illumination all over it, and drive around the areas full of camcorder-wielding tourists...

  • I'd love this if it were made public (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:07PM (#9260680)
    I just happen to be an enthusiast of the art of architecture. This would be a great way to look up and view buildings by address/location.
    • This would be a great way to look up and view buildings by address/location.

      Did you figure that one out all by yourself? Man. The rest of us dumb fools just read the writeup, but here you are posting your own creative, original ideas. A+ for you.
    • Information like this would be great for following architectural trends. Unfortunately, groups with the cash to do things like this generally aren't interested in the fuzzy cultural notions of idealists.

      Whenever I am on the road, I end up taking photos of town [protophoto.com] I pass through. Of course, since 9/11, when I show up in a town and take a picture of their bridge anymore, I get a bunch of heavily armed yahoos thinking I am some type of ter'ist plotting an attack on the heart of the homeland.

    • Re:I'd love this if it were made public (Score:4, Interesting)

      by bay43270 ( 267213 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:39PM (#9261036) Homepage
      Link it to map quest. Driving directions could be visual.

      Turn left here: [picture of the intersection]

      Render them together, and you could have a 3d rendering of the trip (made up of 2d images used as a textures). On star could send them to your heads-up-display (you have one, right?)

    • Re:I'd love this if it were made public (Score:5, Interesting)

      by El Cabri ( 13930 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:58PM (#9261212) Journal
      Several French cities, including Paris, are available at www.pagesjaunes.fr (France Telecom's yellow pages). I used it to see the building in Bordeaux where my brother had found an appartment, and to check out the hospital where I was born according to my birth certificate, etc... fun.

      On the City of Paris' website http://www.paris.fr/FR/Environnement/bruit/carto_b ruit/default.ASP also gives you a 3d map of the amount of street noise received by each building. Useful before you buy an apartment.
      • Here is another great use of this kind of database. We used the pagesjaunes.fr site when we were going to Paris. We were using Go-Today travel, which listed a dozen or so hotels in an increasing price scale. They had links to details about the hotels, but, not knowing the city, you couldn't tell much about where they were.

        So, we looked up the hotels by address and "strolled" down the streets on either side. Two were in a really undesirable looking neighborhoods. The one we picked was on a nice side st

  • Cool Game Levels (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RidiculousPie ( 774439 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:07PM (#9260681)
    Combined with mapping data can we make levels for our favourite games, with pictures of buildings true to life?

    • Re:Cool Game Levels (Score:5, Funny)

      by Mad Bad Rabbit ( 539142 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:17PM (#9260817)
      Oh, boy, now I can put out "The Sims -- Shreveport Louisiana" expansion pack. Or "Grand Theft Auto 13: The Streets of Missoula Montana"
      • "Quake VI Arena: Columbine High School"
    • No, for real though... what's that technology that creates 3d geometry from pictures? LIke they used in Fight Club for the kitchen scene.

      This data could be used to create some wicked FPS levels. Deathmatch in our own neighborhood. Own3Z!
  • Think about it...It's Open Source and community based and it would look Great on Film!

  • Better maps? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:07PM (#9260691)
    It'd be interesting to see how such a survey affects sites like MapQuest... as it'd be real useful to have the building you're drving to circled on a street-level picture when you're traveling in an unknown-to-you metro area.

  • Can they at least (Score:5, Funny)

    by bplipschitz ( 265300 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:08PM (#9260698)
    remove the swastika flags from the vans before they come prowling through my neighborhood?

  • Just freakin great. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kenja ( 541830 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:08PM (#9260700)
    "When viewed from this angle, all the bare ass cheeks pressed against the windows spell out SCO SUCKS".

  • And no.. (Score:3)

    by bigattichouse ( 527527 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:08PM (#9260704) Homepage
    We *promise* the data won't be used against normal citizens, and *definitely* will not end up in the wrong hands. Double pinky swear... and you know you can trust us, we're the one's that told you about WMD...
    • you gotta figure about two weeks until the girl at the sign-in counter at gold's gym ask for your street address and "permission to do a street address verification" which is standard for all new members - just like the SS number and bank account routing number please.

  • I don't mind cops looking up my address (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:09PM (#9260707)
    I don't mind this at all. They may look at the address I gave them, 1060 W addison, Chicago, any time that they want...

  • story (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:09PM (#9260711)
    May 25, 2004
    Van Could Take Photographs While Driving
    By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Filed at 9:14 p.m. ET

    NEW YORK (AP) -- An odd-looking van sprouts 13 digital cameras that its builder wants to use to photograph 50 million buildings in the country while driving, taking pictures every 15 feet.

    The van's drive-by snaps would be matched against GPS satellite positioning data and aerial photographs in a database. Police, insurance agents and others then could call up overhead and street-level views simply by entering an address.

    The setup from Imageos Inc. was one of the security-related exhibits on display at this year's CeBIT America technology trade show, which opened here Tuesday. Other companies were showing software tools to secure wireless networks, monitor employee surfing and protect users from viruses and spyware.

    The main market for Imageos' photographs would be insurance appraisals, but the Boulder, Colo., startup is also touting the pictures for ``homeland security'' applications, law enforcement and emergency services.

    Imageos' Paul Jurasin said that thanks to the aerial photos, the database can show whether a house has a swimming pool or a fence in the back, details that could be of interest both to insurance companies and police.

    ``It gives them more information than they would get by driving up to a house, before they get there,'' Jurasin said.

    So far, Imageos has photographed only Orlando, Fla. If it gets funding, it plans to photograph the 25 largest cities in the country over the next five years using more than a dozen vans.

    Elsewhere on the convention floor, Hewlett-Packard Co. showed a laptop computer that is secured against non-computing attacks, namely water, dust and physical impact. The nr3600 is HP's first ``rugged'' laptop, an entry into a market dominated by Panasonic's Toughbooks.

    Rugged laptops are aimed at workers who need to bring their computers to rough construction sites, deserts and combat. The nr3600, on sale now for $4,099 and up, meets military specifications for shock resistance and sealing against the elements. It is joined by a keyboard-less ruggedized ``tablet'' for $600 less.

    The nr3600 has a large carrying handle, but for portability, it can't beat the OQO, an ``ultra personal computer'' about the size of a paperback book. The small LCD screen slides away to reveal a tiny keyboard intended for thumb-typing.

    It has most of the functionality of a full computer: The Windows XP machine has a hard drive, built-in wireless networking and a USB port.

    The OQO is designed for simpler tasks while on the move. When you sit down for serious work, you attach it to a docking station that connects to a full monitor, mouse and keyboard. The OQO thus aims to replace Palm-style organizers, laptops and desktops.

    San Francisco-based OQO Inc. has been promising its gadget for two years. It says it's now finally shipping this fall for somewhat less than $2,000.

    Nifty gadgets aside, the latest year's upswing in the technology business was in little evidence at show. Organizers expected 350 to 360 exhibitors, slightly fewer than last year, which was the first time CeBIT held an American show.

    ``It's OK. It's not buzzing with activity, but it's OK,'' said Farhad Keyvan, who was visiting from Bridgewater, N.J., where he runs a small software company.

    Mark Dineen, the show's managing director, acknowledged that some large U.S. companies have ``pulled away'' from the trade show business.

    However, Microsoft Corp. and enterprise software giants PeopleSoft Inc. and Siebel Systems Inc. were added to the roster of exhibitors this year, and a greater number of preregistrations led organizers to expect up to 50 percent more attendees than the 8,500 that showed up last year. The show runs till Thursday.

    CeBIT America is an offshoot of the world's largest technology fair, which is held Hanover, Germany, in March. That show had 6,411 exhibitors this year.

  • link (Score:3, Informative)

    by xplosiv ( 129880 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:10PM (#9260720)
    link to a copy of this article hosted by Information Week [informationweek.com]
  • Personally I would re-do the buildings after the van passes just to be a pain.

    I'll bet that some A$$croft type wants people to stand in front of their homes/buildings as the van passes too.

    I'm _still_ looking for a country that won't constantly track me like an animal or invade my privacy like a criminal. I haven't found one yet...
    • Personally I would re-do the buildings after the van passes just to be a pain.

      Haha --- I would probably put up a facade for when the magic van is passing, and encourage everyone on my block to do the same. Sure, it hurts when the ambulance is looking for your house, but it is quite helpful when the cops are looking for your house.

  • Good luck! (Score:5, Funny)

    by JBMcB ( 73720 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:11PM (#9260738)
    My house is sheltered from the street by a thick strand of trees and planters. Hopefully the federales will use this information to keep out of my impatiens when they storm my house.

  • Trademarking Building Images (Score:3, Interesting)

    by billstewart ( 78916 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:12PM (#9260758) Journal
    It's apparently possible to get Intellectual Property Protection for a building's appearance. I think it's trademark protection, but it might be copyright or something. It mostly applies to famous buildings like the Transamerica Pyramid or NYC Chrysler Building - I don't know if anybody's tried it for boring buildings, but if these guys are selling pictures of specific buildings, there might be a case to be made.

    My place isn't likely to be visible to these guys - I'm in a condo, and I'm on the side of the building that doesn't face the street, just the next buildings. MapQuest used to have aerial photos, so I've seen pictures of my roof, and probably a picture of my car's roof, but I don't know if any of the free mapping problems still offer that.

  • Verizon will send its spokesman to accompany them. Every time a picture is taken, that guy will say "Can you hear me now?"

    Then, one picture will include his corpse on the front lawn, and James Earl Jones will get his job back.
  • Where'd you get 50 digital cameras from?

    From the article:

    An odd-looking van sprouts 13 digital cameras that its builder wants to use to photograph 50 million buildings in the country while driving, taking pictures every 15 feet.

  • It's been done. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Art precedes technology: The Camera Van [cameravan.com]

  • And yet, (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Speare ( 84249 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:14PM (#9260783) Homepage Journal
    And yet, if I take pictures anywhere near a Federal building, subway tunnel or bridge, even from a public sidewalk, the goons will want to catalogue me as a potential threat.

  • 10 Comments and no Alternate Link? (Score:3, Funny)

    by eSims ( 723865 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:14PM (#9260785) Homepage
    Here's [informationweek.com] a no reg required copy of the AP article.

  • Sounds like Europe (Score:2, Informative)

    by lenhap ( 717304 )
    This is interesting, I really don't see how this could be bad, aside from having an ugly house or yard. Actually Europe (more specifically france) has things like this, in their internet yellow pages [pagesjaunes.fr], there is a picture of every single address. Works great when you are looking for hotels (which is how I found) and want to know what the area looks like.

    I can really only see how this can help things, like historical data...how an area looked in a hundred years or something, or with research into an area

  • Madrid and Barcelona already have this (Score:5, Informative)

    by z_gringo ( 452163 ) <(moc.liamtoh) (ta) (ognirg_z)> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:15PM (#9260792)

    Madrid and Bercelona are alaready online, and most buildings have multiple views.

    check it out here [qdq.com]. However the site seems to be running very slow at the moment.

    For some sample addresses, you can use Calle Serrano 75, or Francisco Silvela 20

  • Plan to raid the database ? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dave21212 ( 256924 ) <dav@spamcop.net> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:16PM (#9260803) Homepage Journal

    Ok, here's my plan... I'll hang a painting I made on the house with a disclaimer that it's not to be reproduced...

    then, after they take the picture, I'll demand access to the content database since I know they have my IP in there...

    if they refuse, I'll lobby Congess to pass a law that has the DOJ go after them for me !


    Oh yeah, I almost forgot (this is /. after all)
    Step 4: Profit !
  • So there's this professor at my college (Purdue) who his big research thing is trying to take large numbers of periodically spaced panoramic images within a certain area and stitch together 3D models of a sort out of them that you can move around within freely. Like Quicktime VR, but taken one step further. (His way of approaching the problem is taking the photos really densely over a small area and attempt to reduce things to a database problem, so I don't know how well his specific approach would work wit
  • not 50 as the author mistakenly reported.

    Also.. this is just an AP article.. Im unsure why a nytimes link was posted.

    http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/computing/20040 525-1257-techshow.html [signonsandiego.com]

  • Cook County (Chicago) Already did this. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gillbates ( 106458 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:18PM (#9260842) Homepage Journal

    A year or so ago, Cook County officials sent a van around photographing every house and residential street in the county. They planned to offer the pictures on the internet, but I'm not sure how successful they were.

    And yes, it made the news and raised a lot of controversy, but in the end, Cook County told its critics they could shove it, and went ahead and did it anyway.

    I guess its just another case of "Can't fight City Hall"....

    Now, if a private citizen had attempted to do the same, you can bet they would have been arrested. And if someone tried to do it now, they'd get thrown in jail as a suspected terrorist.

    • Franklin County, Ohio (county that Columbus and most of its suburbs are in) has had property photos online [governmaxa.com] for a few years as part of the auditor's property tax database. Anyone can go online and search by street name or owner's last name. Several of the surrounding counties have similar services. In fact, I saw a "camera van" in my neighborhood last year taking updated photos. Had I been thinking, I would've ran home and hung my "All Your Base" sign on the porch.

  • Maintenance? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by The Original Yama ( 454111 ) <lists.sridhar @ d h a n apalan.com> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:19PM (#9260843) Homepage
    How do they maintain this image collection so that it stays up to date? If a single building changes (is modified, demolished, etc.) will they go back and photograph it? Or will they just do huge city sweeps every year or so? I would think they'd be doing the latter. It'd be like a photographic street directory.

  • Honestly? So what? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Peale ( 9155 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:19PM (#9260845) Homepage Journal
    Wake up call, people. Your house, unless it's behind a fence, is already accessible visually to the public. I can walk out my door right now, with my camera, and snap pictures of every house on my street.

    What'll that get me? Not much, except a bunch of pictures of houses on my street.

    If this helps the 911 guys find my house better in case of an emergency, good for them. If it never happens, they've got a picture of a blue house with tan trim.

    Someone please enlighten me as to how this could possibly be bad.

    • Re:Honestly? So what? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Hex4def6 ( 538820 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:27PM (#9260923)
      If this helps the 911 guys find my house better in case of an emergency, good for them. If it never happens, they've got a picture of a blue house with tan trim.

      Well, they'll have a convincing case for governmental intervention in the next home decorating decision you make :)

    • Re:Honestly? So what? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Kaa ( 21510 )
      I can walk out my door right now, with my camera, and snap pictures of every house on my street.

      What'll that get me? Not much, except a bunch of pictures of houses on my street.

      Umm... That is highly likely to get you at least a conversation with cops.

      That might also get you sued (see e.g. http://www.californiacoastline.org/streisand/laws u it.html [californiacoastline.org]). That might also get you arrested (I, personally, have been arrested for taking pictures of an industrial plant from a public sidewalk).

    • Re:Honestly? So what? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by SuperBanana ( 662181 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @03:04PM (#9261261)
      If this helps the 911 guys find my house better in case of an emergency, good for them. If it never happens, they've got a picture of a blue house with tan trim. Someone please enlighten me as to how this could possibly be bad.

      Well, for starters, what happens when your house isn't blue anymore with tan trim...and the fire truck drives past your house? Given how much of a pain in the ass it is to do the photos, do they honestly intend to update the DB constantly?

      Out in western MA, they had a very easy solution to all this. The town gave out bright plastic signs with a picture of a fire truck and the street number of the house...and a little metal stake to hang it from. Instructions on where to place it relative to -your- driveway were given. This was done because many people don't have mailboxes(they have PO boxes in town), or they were confusingly located(ie across the street, at the end of a private driveway, etc).

      Works perfectly. This is just some urban idiot who doesn't understand that the problem's already been solved- just not everyone has chosen to implement it.

  • Huh (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    These photos could be cross-referenced with aerial photographs so that law enforcement or insurance agencies can get overhead and street level views of the same location -- just by entering an address."

    I always wondered how the operators did that in the Matrix.

  • Mignt need more vans. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Jammer@CMH ( 117977 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:20PM (#9260861)
    From a quick and dirty search, there seems to be 3,936,246 [highways.org] miles of road in the US. At 45MPH, driving 12 hours a day, you have about 20 years to cover all of them.

    They may need more vans.

  • Why don't you just give em DNA (Score:5, Funny)

    by switcha ( 551514 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:23PM (#9260885)
    Time to hang out the "Hi, Mom!" signs.

    Oh, sure. Give them a handwriting sample while you're at it.

  • Already Done in PA (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SplendidIsolatn ( 468434 ) <splendidisolatn@nOSPAm.yahoo.com> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:25PM (#9260911)
    In Allegheny County, PA, you can go to the county assessment website (http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Sea rch.asp)
    and search on street name, address, OWNER, etc. In the information for most houses are also the pictures of said house. So this is nothing really new, at least around here.
  • Seems like you could do this rather easily locally. Get 15 friends, go to fry's, and buy up lots of $0-with-rebate USB cameras, outfit a van, drive around with a GPS and a really nice MySQL-based laptop, a whole new type of wardriving, with a huge hard disk. Could probably set yourself up in business for under $5000- with a junker van or car for the base. And since this company is only planning on doing the 25 largest cities there's plenty of other space to go with. Like the article says- your customers

  • It's been done already (Score:5, Informative)

    by broothal ( 186066 ) <christian@fabel.dk> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:28PM (#9260944) Homepage Journal
    The french already did this - check out pages jaunes [pagesjaunes.fr] (pages jaunes is french for Yellow Pages). You can actually look up an address and see a photo of it.

  • Killer App: (Score:3)

    by freshmkr ( 132808 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:30PM (#9260958) Homepage
    You're lost on a street. Take a photo with your camera phone and send it to the service. Characteristic image features are used to recognize the buildings, which are cross-referenced with addresses and GPS coordinates in the database. The service tells you where you are and how to get where you're going.

    The recognition technology for this application is already in development.

    Of course, if your phone is a GPS phone, you might not need this.

    --Tom

  • Try this one (Score:5, Informative)

    by TequilaJunction ( 713856 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:36PM (#9261014)
    Pennsylvania's Deptartment of Transportation has been building a video log of the major state routes. It's a similar concept, but their implementation is focused on road maintenance and identification rather than address mapping. http://164.156.5.83/ividlog/video_locate.asp

  • What's the over/under... (Score:5, Funny)

    by mcmonkey ( 96054 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @02:54PM (#9261172) Homepage
    on how many pictures will have a dinosaur [geonet.org.nz]?

  • Confuse the hell out of them... (Score:4, Funny)

    by MrIcee ( 550834 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @03:09PM (#9261309) Homepage
    coat your house in mirrors

  • Photo Maps for Women (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Vegan Pagan ( 251984 ) <deanasNO@SPAMearthlink.net> on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @03:21PM (#9261410)
    I read a claim that when it comes to navigation, men's minds are more spacially oriented while women's minds are more landmark oriented. Thus, maps work better for men than for women.

    Women can make due with written directions, but what if there was a way to give directions by providing a photograph of every intersection from the 1st person, with the turns marked by arrows? Instead of memorizing street names or distances, you could just say "I'll turn when I see this, I'll turn when I see that..." You could be completely illiterate and still navigate. To make such a system possible, you'd have to photograph every intersection from every approach, at day and night, every season (which is frequent enough to account for new construction in most areas). It would be very labor intensive, but it would provide a very valuable service. Assuming illiterate, map-incompetent people have enough money to pay for it.

  • I call bullshit! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by endoboy ( 560088 ) on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @03:56PM (#9261735)
    there are 2.27+ million miles of paved roads in the US, not to mention all the unpaved ones...

    First off, even at 30 miles per hour 24 hours a day, it'd take about 8 1/2 years to take the photos.

    Second, taking 50 pictures every fifteen feet comes to ~17 thousand pictures per mile. Even at a measly 1 megapixel each, that's 17gigs per mile. Multiply that by a couple million miles and I think you may have just a little storage and database problem....

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