Thursday, January 31, 2013

Google's virtual tour of the Grand Canyon

Images of the Grand Canyon are the first to be taken by the company's Trekker platform, which allows workers on foot to collect 360 degree imagery with a back-pack mounted camera system.
'Our team strapped on the Android-operated 40lb backpacks carrying the 15-lens camera system and wound along the rocky terrain on foot, enduring temperature swings and a few muscle cramps along the way,' Mr Falor said.
Google's Trekker cameras capture images every 2.5 seconds with 15 cameras that are 5MP each. A removable hard drive on the trekker stores the data as it is gathered.
GPS data around the Grand Canyon is limited, so Google was forced to compensate with sensors to record temperature, vibrations and the orientation of the device as it changes. These details were essential to developers given the job of stitching them back together into seamless, scrollable panoramas.

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