GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — Google and its street-view cameras have taken users to narrow cobblestone alleys in Spain using a tricycle, inside the Smithsonian with a push cart and to British Columbia's slopes by snowmobile.
The search giant now has brought its all-seeing eyes — mounted for the first time on a backpack — down into the Grand Canyon, showcasing the attraction's most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other walkways.
It's the latest evolution in mapping technology for the Mountain View, Calif., company. With a click, Internet users are transported virtually for a 360-degree view of locales they may have read about only in tourist books and seen in flat, 2-D 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.
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 search giant now has brought its all-seeing eyes — mounted for the first time on a backpack — down into the Grand Canyon, showcasing the attraction's most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other walkways.
It's the latest evolution in mapping technology for the Mountain View, Calif., company. With a click, Internet users are transported virtually for a 360-degree view of locales they may have read about only in tourist books and seen in flat, 2-D 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.
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.
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