Google Map Cars

Cars, prowling the streets of these United States, affixed with rooftop pylons, and swivel headed cameras, all mounted on what could pass for a Thule bicycle rack, have been seen in and around the Westport neighborhood of Kansas City. Residents have been confused and distracted by the addled and fairly random paint jobs of the vehicles, described by one anonymous source as: “evocative of [early] Jackson Pollock.” The cars have been cataloging, in a panoptic swath ominously described by Michel Foucault, street level perspective in fish eyed 360 degree loops. A user can plug an address into Google’s engine, retrieve satellite imaging, and, with the aid of these data mining cars, photographs of the address, down to the detail of stoops and door knobs.