Contrary to what some of the commenters said about this being non-useful and just novelty, I think this brings forward one of the best features of Google Maps by cutting out a lot of (potentially frustrating) steps in the UX. Here’s the typical flow for finding street view when searching on maps.google.com:

1. Submit search query 2. Review results list 3. Repeat 1-2 in case user did not find their intended target 4a. Drag the street view marker onto the map OR 4b+5. Click “more” from the results list, then Street view

Instant Google Street View reduces this to just one easy step, and makes it much more fun along the way.

I think the benefit of this is similar to the benefit of Google’s instant search results - making the UX fast, efficient, and fun to discover what you’re looking for. The creator of this should definite consider expanding this to also include street view and satellite view (surprised Google hasn’t done this already).

And I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a call from Google soon for an interview… either for a job offer or a acqui-hire.

Cheers, nicely done.