Google Unveils First Street View Imagery Of Vientiane

Google Maps now offers 360 degree views of streets which form top attractions in the Lao capital for locals and tourists alike.

Google Asia Pacific with the support of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Laos yesterday made this announcement.

The new imagery allows users in Laos and around the world to view and navigate through 360-degrees of street-level imagery in the country’s capital city.

In areas where Street View is available, street-level imagery can be accessed by dragging the orange ‘Pegman’ icon on the right-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street.
In the new Google Maps, people can also search for local destinations and, where available, access Street View imagery from the imagery carousel that sits at the bottom of the screen.

Locals can use the 360 degree panoramas to check out shop fronts before arriving, figure out driving directions, arrange meeting points, or get to know their own town better.
Lao businesses can also benefit from Street View technology by embedding Google Maps directly into their site. Hotels, for example, can easily show their guests what the building looks like on the street and also a sense of the surrounding neighbourhood.
Travellers to Laos can also use Street View to plan their vacations or virtually explore the countries capital city before arriving.

Director General of the E-Government Centre, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Mr Phonpasit Phissamay said, “We’re very excited to see this phase of the Street View project in Laos come to fruition, with imagery of the capital city including the famous Patouxay Monument to be published on Google Maps.

“Now people in Laos and around the world can use Google Maps and Street View to help them plan their journeys around our country. Within Laos, people will be able to virtually visit Vientiane from any other part of the country, with just an internet connection.
“The Street View project gives us a chance to increase the profile of Laos around the world. This is a well-timed development, as Laos will chair Asean in 2016. We hope that Google will continue to take photos of more beautiful sites in Laos in the future.”

Country Lead, Policy & Government Affairs for Google Asia Pacific, Alex Long said, “We hope the Street View imagery launched today in Vientiane will create new ways for people around the world to experience Laos and, by doing so, help create better awareness of this country and help attract more tourism.”

Google goes to great lengths to safeguard privacy in Google Maps with Street View while enabling all users to benefit from this feature. Google has developed highly sophisticated technology that effectively blurs human faces and license plates of vehicles to render them unidentifiable. In addition, Google is extremely responsive to any requests received from users to further blur any images that feature them.

Source: Vientiane Times