Google is gearing up for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil in its own way with the launch of its Street View service to give people around the world the chance to have a look around the tournament stadiums.
Announcing it in their Brazilian blog post, anyone can now tour the 12 stadiums due to be used, including the infamous Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro as well as being able to walk down some of the country’s painted streets including Rua Padre Agostinho Poncet in São Paulo.
They’ve also expanded the service’s options for those visiting the country with a number of additional tourist locations now included with Street View such as Iguaçu National Park and St. Michael of the Missions.
Rua Padre Agostinho Poncet, São Paulo.
While the number of Irish visitors is likely to be low given our obvious lack of qualification for the tournament, everyone else visiting the country will be able to access their bumped-up live information feed across maps including public transport timetables, indoor maps of airports, football stadiums and shopping malls and turn-by-turn navigation.
However, Google are unlikely to show the problems that exist outside the stadiums which, only a week to go before the tournament, are still un-finished and lacking in amenities.