Google Street View Hyperlapse Is An Experimental New Way Of Wandering The World

Google Street View is maybe one of the most interesting and under appreciated technical developments of the past decade, but it’s all a little static when viewed through standard channels like Google Maps on the desktop or on a mobile device. A new project from Toronto UX design firmTeehan+Lax, which operates a Labs unit to explore its more playful side, threads together Street View imagery to create time-lapse animations called Hyperlapses, which makes Street View a more immersive experience.

You can choose from one of the pre-defined routes set up by Teehan+Lax, like a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge or a dusty drive in the Australian outback, or you can simply search for a location, set point A and point B, as well as a focal point, and generate your own street view. Impressive scenery and architecture makes for a more interesting Hyperlapse, but even one I created of just the few blocks before and after my front door was enthralling enough in a short loop.

The project is little more than an interesting tech demo at this point, without much in the way of actual use value, but Teehan+Lax have made the source code freely available to all on github. The tool also works best in Chrome, and will get your fan running since it has some steep processor requirements. On a day when The Postal Service’s 10th Anniversary Edition is out, however, it’s maybe the perfect time-waster, since that album makes a pretty near perfect soundtrack for virtually any Street View Hyperlapse.