[crazygringo]

We could be... but why? What's the product?

It makes sense they prototyped it. But putting it into production is $$$, way more expensive than current street view.

Current street view works well enough. How is a massively upgraded 3D version, that is bloated and slower to use on older devices, going to make Google more money?

It feels more like a separate product to license to architecture firms, city planners, video game studios, etc.

[aeonik]

Google mission statement is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

[bryceacc]

Mission statements are only there to resonate with people, so that part is working. If the mission doesn't make money, they aren't gonna do it just because it matches a statement

[crazygringo]

Which Street View as it is, currently does. And is a phenomenal human achivement.

Adding a bonus 3D renderer on top is just a nice-to-have.

[Philip-J-Fry]

By selling virtual billboards within the street view

[rationalist]

Thanks for giving them the idea :-/

[glaslong]

Finally, the metaverse arrives

[cco]

Sometimes you don't know up front. Perhaps you learn a lot about gaussian splatting and push forward that tech by five years (presuming they started on this five years ago).

Or maybe you learn this helps you build a world model that would have accelerated Waymo's progression, or you sell it to robotics companies.

That's the nice thing about having a money printer and a ton of smart, curious, and driven people. You can afford to do things without a strict eye towards profit, that's reserved for tiny companies living on a razor's edge. Or consultants I guess.

[crazygringo]

I can't tell if you're agreeing with me or not!

But yes, that is the nice thing about the money printer -- they were able to prototype it, and maybe it is helping Waymo.

But there isn't a strong need for it to live as a product within Google Street View.