Almost 1,000 people are taking on a virtual ‘internet road trip’, driving across America together and tackling one road at a time.
The unusual and fun little project has attracted hundreds of people who are all driving ‘the same’ virtual car through the US.
The Internet Roadtrip website was created by developer Neal Agarwal and uses Google Street View software to ‘drive’ across the country.
There’s even a Discord server where those virtually driving across America can chat to each other about where to go next.
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Google Street View is an incredibly handy creation, particularly for motorists, and some folks even use it to unearth abandoned vehicles.
Now, thanks to Internet Roadtrip, hundreds of people are using it to travel across the States without having to leave the comfort of their homes.
The website has a simple design, most of which is taken up by images from Street View and a small steering wheel that moves about.
There are also some arrows that show which direction the car can go, and visitors to the site can click on one of the arrows to cast a vote for where to go next.
The votes take place every few seconds, and then boom, you’re onto a new location on the internet road trip.
You can also vote on what radio station to play and whether or not to beep the horn.
As you sit behind the virtual wheel, you can see a running total of how many other folks are there too, and there’s a dialogue box showing what is being said in the dedicated Discord server.
Simple, right? But perhaps that’s the appeal of the Internet Roadtrip.
Its creator, Agarwal, said he wanted to create something fun with a ‘shared goal’.
“I think communal experiences on the internet are so fun, especially when there’s some shared goal,” Agarwal told 404 Media.
“I’ve had the idea of ‘Twitch plays self-driving car’ for a long time, but that’s probably not street legal so this is the next best thing.”
The virtual car journey began in Boston, Massachusetts, earlier this month and – at the time of writing – is in Yarmouth, Maine, where it goes next is down to the virtual drivers to decide.
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