Google Maps have been working hard lately to improve some of their street views, enhancing data in various locations. Their Trekker, a backpack mounted camera system has been used to allow people to take a 360 degree view of the Grand Canyon.
Five people with Trekkers took to the Grand Canyon loaded down with camera equipment alongside ten Google engineers. They gathered the images over a period of three days.
Each of these Trekker backpack systems uses 15 cameras connected to an Android device to capture full 360 degree panoramic shots of the scenic views around the wearer. The team managed to snag 9,500 panorams, with covered a total of 75 miles of paths around the Grand Canyon National Park. They also covered the Phantom Ranch, South Rim Tail, Meteor Crater, Bright Angel trail and South Kaibab trail. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpcar4L_EXY']
You can now view this in the Street view on Google maps. Google hope to expand this incredible panoramic view to other key areas in the world, to allow the end user to experience the trip from the comfort of their own computer screen.
Kitguru says: A wonderful idea from the Google Team!