Cyclomedia Street Smart vs Google Street View

We often get asked what the main differences are between the well-known Google Street View and Cyclomedia's Street Smart. Both applications allow you to view any location right from your desktop, but what benefits do you receive from choosing to use the right software?

As a professional, you want to trust the software, hardware, and information you rely on to do your job well. You don't want to risk making unnecessary mistakes when important decisions are on the line simply because the software you are using is not providing accurate information. If your work requires you to inspect public spaces, read on!

Cyclomedia captures many cities, states, and even entire countries with razor-sharp imagery. We ensure our images are updated often and depending on the needs and budget of each customer, we customize each contract to meet our clients’ needs. Clients can receive discounts on multi-year contracts and know upfront what they are going to pay over the next few years, with no surprises. With fresh images captured at regular intervals, our clients are confident that when they view our imagery, they are observing a real-world representation of their location. Additionally, clients can compare newer images with older ones to detect changes. This makes the Cyclomedia’s image data the perfect basis for planning your work and inspecting public spaces from behind your desktop.

Unlike Cyclomedia, Google does not routinely refresh their Street View imagery. This makes it difficult to rely on their data to complete your work since the data might no longer be accurate. Users can't be sure if the pavement they are viewing is still in good shape, if the road sign on a highway is still legible, or if a building remains up to code. Working with outdated information can have dire consequences.

Our images have a resolution of 100 megapixels (14400 x 7200 pixels). The razor-sharp image quality, combined with geometrically accurate imagery, has allowed thousands of professionals in business and government to rely on our image data in their daily work. You can spot even the smallest of details in our images, making our clients confident that their work will be thorough. Rather than having to visit each location in person, our software allows our clients to view the fine details they need to review in the captured images.

Due to a fisheye lens, images on Google Street View provide a distorted view of reality, making it impossible to take geometrically accurate measurements and sometimes even causing you to miss crucial details. This lack of detailed information can be serious and significantly impact the assumptions you make while doing your job.

Thanks to Cyclomedia’s advanced recording equipment and exceptional positioning quality, you can make precise measurements on the street level imagery. Because we collect LiDAR and imagery at the same time, any point you click on will be accurate to within 4 inches of that point in the real world. And, as if that number were not impressive enough, our measurement accuracy is within 2 centimeters (about 0.79 in). Each time you make a measurement, Street Smart provides an accuracy statement of its confidence in the answer to ensure reliability.

Our technology also offers the ability to measure more than just X and Y values—we can measure Z values as well, enabling you to calculate measurements such as heights, depths, areas of objects or places, elevations, and more. The positioning quality of Cyclomedia’s imagery is so accurate, you can confidently base important decisions on the measurements you take from behind your desktop.

Let's get right to the point: you can't perform measurements based on Google Street View. Due to a fisheye lens, the images on Google Street View aren't geometrically correct. Distorted images don't provide spatially accurate representations of a location. The deviations in measurements can seriously impact the success of your calculations.

Of course, you can check the location you are looking for in Google Street View to see what it looks like (or at least used to look like) without physically going there. But if you want to know the height of a light pole or check what equipment to bring when maintenance is needed, Street Smart is your best bet.

Cyclomedia's Street Smart tool is intended for government agencies and businesses to bring the real world to their desktop and allow them to work smarter, more efficiently, sustainably, and safely. Bottom line—as a professional, you can rely on Cyclomedia's high-quality data.

Generally, most people are aware that businesses and consumers alike have free access to Google Street View. However, are you aware that it is illegal to use or distribute the images for commercial or business purposes? In fact, even downloading content from Google Street View is not permitted. In theory, this means that you cannot use an aerial Google Street View photo of a location in a business report. Google also monitors which users use their street view frequently, and states in their user agreement that it is “not intended for governmental use at any level.” When using and sharing image data is an important part of your work, Google Street View is not the best solution.

Cyclomedia Street Smart

The use of our Street Smart technology makes our customers’ work safe and sustainable. The ability to view your desired location from behind your desktop is more cost effective and less time-consuming than performing site visits. Traversing an entire city, for example, counting and taking note of every manhole cover would take weeks and be incredibly expensive—with Cyclomedia’s software, however, you can locate each one right from your desktop in a matter of hours. If you do have to visit a location, you can view Street Smart ahead of time to ensure there are no surprises once you arrive. You will know exactly what the location looks like and be prepared for the visit. Relying on our imagery will ensure safe, sustainable, cost and time effective work.

Needless to say, we are big fans of our very own Street Smart application! We are proud to deliver quality imagery and insights that thousands of professionals rely on every day.

The list of things you can do with Cyclomedia’s imagery and data insights is infinite. You can access razor-sharp images, make geometrically correct measurements, inspect buildings, create reports, share images with colleagues or stakeholders, perform simulations, add data layers in an accurate virtual representation of your location.... and more.

Do you want to be assured that you are using correct information when making important decisions? Would you like to try Street Smart now for 14 days at no cost?