Google Street View: The musical extravaganza

Earlier this year artists Robin Hewlett and Ben Kinsley teamed up with Google to create what might be the oddest thing caught on Street View, Google Maps' virtual man-on-the-street service. Hewlett and Kinsley managed to get a large group of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, locals together to participate in a variety of activities on-camera, including organized jogging, a sword fight, and a parade--complete with band instruments and uniforms. All the while Google's Street View car captured every moment.

The result is a few square blocks of the zaniness that will be forever preserved for others to see--that is, until Google updates the imagery with newer shots. Hewlett and Kinsley have documented the entire project on their site, along with a "making of" documentary that captures the scope of how many people were involved:

What will remain far more interesting to most are all the unintentionally peculiar things caught in Street View's cameras, which continued to be chronicled by eagle-eyed individuals. On that front, worth checking out is StreetViewGallery, which has a Reddit-like system for promoting funny found Street View shots to the top.

[via Google Blogoscoped]

[proudmonkey]

How does one find out when google street view is going to be in your area? Obviously this probably would be important information for people wishing to plan something special or have a pre clean up day before they roll through your area.