July 16, 2009 – To celebrate the re-launch of its website producers of the popular series have thrown open doors for the Google Street View car, making it the first TV soap ever to do so.
ITV invited Google to put the street on the virtual map so that its millions of fans can explore as if they were the characters in the programme.
Today the Street View car, which features specially designed camera equipment atop its roof, drove down famous cobbled the street to take the images.
These images will now be processed and carefully stitched together, a technological process that can take several months. They will be made available at a later date in Street View on Google Maps, with a link available on the broadcaster’s website.
Photos and video footage of the car in action can be found on Coronation Street’s newly revamped website www.itv.com/corrie as well as on YouTube.
An ITV spokesperson said: “Thanks to Street View, fans will be able to have a good nose around the set in a way that would have been unimaginable almost 50 years ago when the show first aired.”
Google added: “This is the first ever TV soap to be photographed for Street View and we’re thrilled that soon fans up and down the country will be able to imagine themselves heading down the street to enjoy a pint in the The Rovers.”
Street View is a hugely popular feature of Google Maps which is already available in more than 100 metropolitan areas around the world. It is also available in Google Earth and on Google Maps for Mobile. We launched Street View imagery in UK in April allowing people to view and navigate 360 degree street-level imagery in 25 British towns.
In areas where Street View is available, you can access street-level imagery by zooming into the lowest level on Google Maps, or by dragging the orange “Pegman” icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street. You can check out a restaurant before arriving, make travel plans, arrange meeting points, get a helping hand with geography homework, or just explore and get to know your town better.
High res images available.
Contact: Laura Scott laurascott@google.com or 0207 031 0130
Labels: English (UK), UK news announcements
