The view of the Grand Canyon in Arizona just got a whole lot more digital. Google has recently added this national landmark to its collection of Street View supported locations in Google Maps.
Creating this Street View experience required 9,500 panoramic shots of the canyon! It includes more than 75 miles of trails and surrounding areas. The Google team was able to walk through the canyon carrying Android-operated, 40 pound Trekker backpacks – a 15-lens camera system that took the pictures!
“The narrow ridges and steep, exposed trails of the Grand Canyon provide the perfect terrain for our newest camera system. The Trekker—which its operator controls via an Android phone and automatically gathers photos as he walks—enables the collection of high-quality imagery from places that are only accessible on foot,” Google wrote in October 2012, which is when the images were taken.
President Theodore Roosevelt said of the Grand Canyon, “Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children’s children, and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American should see.” Little did he know that they would be able to enjoy it from the backyards by logging onto Google Maps!
