While drones have become a fad as they enable us to see the world from " a bird's eye view ", Japan thought we might want to see things from another perspective. With the primary objective of promoting their place, the Hiroshima Tourism Board created a Google Street View mapping application positioned at the height of our feline pals, about nine-and-a-half inches above the ground. The map is centered along the shopping district in Onomichi City, which is 70 kilometers east of Hiroshima City and which has been known to have a large population of the friendly furry creatures out in the streets. The area has become popular as well for destinations such as Neko no Hosomichi (Cat Alley), plus a museum devoted to maneki-neko, the lucky cat figurines with a beckoning paw.
For now, the application is available only in Japan. The Hiroshima prefecture discloses that its map was created with people who had worked on Google Street View, utilizing the same equipment. The Cat Street View Map highlights the city's most interesting attractions with the use of meotags, which can be clicked by its virtual visitors for "biogra-fur-ical information." Such includes most features that can be seen in other interactive online maps, like details on the local shops and camera angle functions. It offers a selection of 11 pet cats held in the area with links to their backgrounds.
"We were seeking to introduce a different way to look at our cities and offer a view of the streets that wasn't available before," a Hiroshima tourism official said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. The official hopes that this will be the first in a series, with additional features in the future.
But more than just being a marketing gimmick, Cat Street View is a clear and concrete illustration of how technological developments have gradually aided human beings in understanding the " cat's point of view" . Other means like the use of collar cams, web cams and action cameras such as GoPro have been initially used for the same purpose.
This map is also an interesting counterpoint to the drone market's increased popularity. For the first five months of 2015 alone, drone companies have earned $172 million, greater than what they have raised in the previous three years combined.
