Google Maps: Google Maps Street View camera runs into some trouble

Google Maps is on hand to help users navigate their way around new destinations or explore hotspots further afield. Every now and then eagle-eyed viewers spot something completely out of the ordinary. While this is usually something unexpected to do with the landscape, this time it’s the camera itself which has found itself in an unexpected position. Why did this odd image end up on Google?

A Reddit user spotted the blip when navigating their way around the English town of Newry.

They then posted it to the forum to try and gain some theories about why this occurrence had happened.

As the user is scrolling along Grants Road they approach a low pass bridge.

The sign on the old red brick structure states vehicles no larger 2.4m than should pass through.

The Google Maps car should be well within the size limits to get through with ease, however, it seems the camera runs into some trouble.

When clicking forwards, at first the image suddenly shifts to the ceiling of the bridge, showing dark concrete and shadows.

Then, suddenly it appears to be pointing down, snapping a close-up of the black car’s roof.

It’s an interesting look that almost breaks the fourth wall, revealing what the vehicle looks like.

Three stickers appear to be stuck above the back window.

However, once the bridge has been passed, the camera goes back to its standard view capturing the surrounding countryside.

Users on Reddit raced to share their theories.

While some suggest that the camera was knocked off its mount by the low roof of the bridge, others say this simply is not the case.

One user posted their theory, writing: “Last image of the sequence is clearly looking down at the Google car, with its stickers on the rear spoiler and windshield wiper on the rear windshield.

“While the camera may not have been detached from the mounting pedestal, it was clearly knocked askew such that it recorded a view down at the car that is not normally included in the street view stitches.”

However, another said the camera wasn’t knocked down, and merely adjusted its view.

They said: “I think the cause of this change in camera perspective is due to the constraints in view that the camera software experienced when it entered the tunnel and it automatically adjusted its perspective.

“The cameras mounted on these cars have a spherical view. I think that the camera glitched when it went through the tunnel and registered the rock above.

“The software might have thought the view was flipped and automatically registered to the view that was open (aiming downward).

“You can follow the view as it goes through and clear of the tunnel. Showing that there was no interruption in the recording. When the car leaves the tunnel there is no damage to the lens or the protective dome that surrounds the camera assembly.

It is also plausible that the driver of the car noticed what had happened and stopped the car to put the camera back in its correct position.

A comment reads: “I think it might be more probable that the driver knew the camera was too tall and detached it to lay it down, drove through the tunnel, then reattached it. The man in the jacket is there in one frame, then when the car enters the tunnel he is gone.

“Which seems to suggest that there was a time-lapse between arriving at the tunnel and entering the tunnel.

“I also think that if the camera collided with the stone, there would be evidence of damage, or the camera would cut out completely at that point.”

This isn’t the first time Google software has appeared to malfunction.

In a town in Quebec, Canada, the map appears to uncover a hidden “ghost town”.

As the user scrolls along a desolate road suddenly buildings begin to appear and then disappear in succession along the sides of the street.

At one moment, shop fronts litter the sidewalks, and just a metre later they vanish again.

While it is fun to speculate that this could be something supernatural, the likelihood is that it’s just a glitch in Google system showing images of what was in the area before it was knocked down at a later date.

source: express.co.uk