Ever wondered what Google Street View sounds like?

Google Street View is an application that enables you to virtually visit almost anywhere and even see famous buildings all over the world, without leaving your house. However you explore, only images have accompanied your search – until now. Hearing aid specialist Amplifon has embarked upon a new project that allows you to not only see these places but to hear them too.

Sounds of Street View is a digital explorative sound experiment that gives users a 3D sound experience in a Street View environment. Utilising the Web Audio API, sounds are designated as though they were ordinary Google Maps markers, but instead of an image and information being assigned to the marker, a sound is instead.

Sounds happening behind you are processed through a low-pass filter, to re-create how the shape of the human ear affects how sound is heard: brighter in front and duller behind. It's an utterly immersive experience that may shape the future of Street View.

Street View sounds

Street View sounds

Street View sounds

What do you make of the sounds? Let us know in the comments box below!

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Sammy Maine

Sammy Maine was a founding member of the Creative Bloq team way back in the early 2010s, working as a Commissioning Editor. Her interests cover graphic design in music and film, illustration and animation. Since departing, Sammy has written for The Guardian, VICE, The Independent & Metro, and currently co-edits the quarterly music journal Gold Flake Paint.