Google cameras map Grand Canyon trails
2012-10-24 18:44
Grand Canyon National Park - Google and its street-view cameras have already taken users to narrow cobblestone alleys in Spain using a tricycle, inside the Smithsonian with a push cart and up British Columbia's snow-covered slopes by snowmobile.
The search giant now has brought its all-seeing eyes - mounted for the first time on a backpack, called the Trekker - into the Grand Canyon, showcasing the US attraction's most popular hiking trails.
It's the latest evolution in mapping technology for the company, which has photographed thousands of cities in dozens of countries for its Street View feature. With a click of the mouse, internet users are transported virtually for a 360° view of locales they may have read about only in tourist books and seen in flat, 2D images.
"Any of these sort of iconic, cultural, historical locations that are not accessible by road is where we want to go," said Ryan Falor, product manager at Google.
Backpack collector
Google announced the Trekker earlier this year but made its first official collection of data this week at the Grand Canyon.
The backpacks aren't ready for volunteer use, but Google has said it wants to deploy them at national forests, to the narrow streets of Venice, Mount Everest and to ancient ruins and castles.
The move to capture the Grand Canyon comes after Apple chose to drop Google Maps from its mobile operating systems and use its own mapping program that was derided for, among other things, poor directions and missing towns.
Google launched its Street View feature in 2007 and has expanded from five US cities to more than 3 000 in 43 countries.
As the sun rose on Monday, Luc Vincent, Google engineering director, strapped on one of the 18kg backpacks and set down the Bright Angel Trail to the Colorado River - a nearly 16km hike.
- AP
