all text for nyc (brooklyn) is a very impressive search engine which allows you to search Google Maps Street View imagery for any word. In the words of its developer it is "a unique digital archive of Brooklyn's typography. Users can search and visualize every sign, notice, and street art captured in street images".
Enter any word (or combination of words) into 'all text for nyc' and it will return interactive Google Maps Street View images from Brooklyn which contain your entered text. The 'about' section of 'all text for nyc' does not go into any detail about how the search engine was built, beyond stating it was made 'Using optical character recognition on street level imagery'. I'm guessing a pipeline was established using the Street View Static API to download all of Brooklyn's Street View imagery and then use machine learning to scan and extract all instances of words in those images.
all text for nyc is such an innovative idea that all its possible uses have not been fully explored or realized yet. I am sure that its ability to read street signs and also store names would be a fantastic resource for human-centric landmark-oriented directions (eg turn right at 'Jerk Chicken', go past the 'liquor store' and turn left at 'Danny's Donuts'. I am sure that 'all text for nyc' also has lots of possible uses which I wouldn't even come close to thinking of.
Also See - Text on Maps
Last year the David Rumsey Map Collection unveiled its Text on Maps feature which allows users to search one of the world's largest collections of digitized maps by text. The David Rumsey Map Collection contains over 57,000 geo-referenced vintage maps. Using the Text on Maps feature you can search these 57,000 historic maps for any word or combination of words (eg gold mine).
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