So what's this guy staring at? Apparently, just a blank brick wall in San Francisco. However, it's the potential of what he could be looking at that's intriguing. As I said, it's a blank wall, but it appears to have been tagged with graffiti art; appears is the keyword. You are witnessing the beginnings of earthmine, an idea which cross-breeds Google Street View with Second Life.

Earthmine drove around San Francisco with a camera mounted on a car, similar to Street View, and recorded the city. It then used it's specialized technology to create 3D images of the city. An application created by one of its developers allows users to walk around San Francisco or use public transportation (such as the train, complete with the trademarked electric whine), and tag whatever part of the city they'd like.

Not only does this allow taggers to find prime places to tag, practice their art, and then preview its result before actually carrying through with the project, but it has an advertising application as well. My question is, for what companies would this tool be most effective?

Right offhand, spray paint brands, posterboards, precision-cut blades, industrial exterior paint brands, high pressure washers, and paint stripper chemicals. Probably more realistic (and ethical), local food hangouts and clubs patronized by the youthful tagger segment wouldn't be bad ideas. Or, maybe a user would like to proclaim their love for a significant other legally and at a price.

Will this technology replace Street View? I'm guessing that earthmine will have similar problems to community coooperation as Google has encountered. However, there is probably a market segment out there looking for ways to map geographic areas in 3 dimensions.