Sounds of Street View lets virtual tourists listen to the ambient noises of Google Maps

Google’s Street View has been around for a little more than seven years and while Mountain View’s touring software has made a lot of progress since its launch, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Aware of this, a hearing aid manufacturer named Amplifon is looking to update Street View’s silent movie feel by introducing a new concept called “Sounds of Street View.”

This ambitious project mixes the Web Audio API with Street View, providing location-specific sounds to enhance a virtual tourist’s experience. Amplifon recommends using headphones for full 3D sound, however Sounds of Street View will also work through your computer’s speaker system. As you make your way through a location, sound levels will increase or decrease as you move about.

So far Amplifon has put together a few demos of its new platform, which include: San Diego’s Balboa Park, Hapuna Beach in Hawaii and Place du Palais in France. Overall the audio is pretty impressive, but it’s not without its hiccups. While cruising through the app’s French locale, we heard bells ringing from a nearby church, however it was obvious that they were being looped.

Knowing that it would take an infinite amount of time to add sound to Street View, Amplifon has made its project’s code available to developers and tinkerers looking to help its efforts.

(via The Next Web)