You can use Google’s virtual exploration map technology for a lot of places, but walking on water in Sydney hasn’t really been one. And now it is.
Is there a place the a Google Street View camera can’t go? The answer might not be so obvious, with the in-person simulation not just useful on the streets and roads of real life to tell you where you are (and if you have the right address), but also taking to more places.
Not technically VR, but definitely a virtual form of reality you can experience via app or web browser, Google’s Street View project has made its way to lots of places, including Gallipoli, the middle of Australia, local shopping centres to help you find your way around, Disneyland, and even in space aboard the ISS.
Most recently, last year found Google’s local Street View team jumping aboard a Sydney Ferry, though the project didn’t really go anywhere. You could walk yourself onto the ferry, but it was docked at Circular Quay. In a world that was gradually waking up and returning to life, it was a bit of a tease.
This year, though, Google’s Street View team has made some progress and now has ferry walks, so to speak, that can have you travel with the ferry across Sydney Harbour.
You’ll be able to move the ferry’s position using Street View, which for a few frames in each movement will keep you in the same place on the ferry, but gradually shift you around.
In each set of images, though, it’s the same Street View approach as applied to a working ferry: look around where ever you want, almost as if you were there.
The result for Street View on Sydney Ferries is almost a lock-in for a picturesque experience as you board a ferry and make your way to Manly and Taronga Zoo, though obviously you can’t get off.
Given the photos, our guess is this experience and the photos might have been captured amidst what we saw last year, though it’s entirely possible that Google’s team has only joined the dots now, working out how to move a ferry with its own virtual road through the harbour.
Mind you, there’s no sea spray or wind in your hair (if you have any), and you can’t feel the warmth of a sunny Sydney day beating on your skin, but like all Street View experiences, it’s a version of being there behind a screen anyone can connect with and see.
