Microsoft looking at integrating Videos with Driving Directions

From the Microsoft Labs…

So this looks interesting (the video dates from July so I’m wondering how I missed this before), but the practicality of it seems far-fetched.  I guess I could look at them on my laptop/iPhone before driving the route, but looking down at a video while I’m driving seems dangerous.  Plus how often would they update these?  Would they have nighttime versions to help navigate when the sun is down (to me a city I’m not familiar with looks totally different at night)?

Oh and is this a preview of Microsoft’s Street View?