Have you ever wanted your own personalized music video? Well, now you can have it. Thanks to the marvels of modern technology including satellite imagery and geographic mapping tools, coupled with age-old creativity, you can create a music video starring your hometown in a matter of seconds.

To really understand what I’m talking about, you have to experience it for yourself. Check out The Wilderness Downtown website. All you have to do is enter your address, the name of your hometown, or a notable landmark in your hometown. Then, turn your speakers on, sit back, and watch the music video!

This “Google Chrome Experiment” takes satellite images and street views of your childhood home and infiltrates them with generic music video-esque images, and puts them to the song We Used to Wait by the band Arcade Fire. You will no doubt be inspired by the originality and creativity of this experiment, and you may also feel a tinge of nostalgia for your childhood and the place where you grew up.

What excites me about the “Google Chrome Experiment” is the future potential for this type of technology and creativity. There are so many possibilities for improvement and enhancement. For example, what if you could choose your own song? Perhaps your favorite song? Or, what if there were options for what types of generic images and footage you could use? Google Earth satellite imagery has improved enormously in the last few years, and I don’t see that improvement slowing down any time soon. As Google Earth’s collection of imagery and the quality of that imagery improves, so do applications and programs like The Wilderness Downtown. Perhaps this experiment will inspire people to make their own music videos – or any type of video – using their own computers, music, images, and innovation, from the comfort of their own home!  

What other cool activities or applications might you expect people to create that use and take advantage of Google Earth?   

Enjoy!