Google Maps are good for two things: getting last minute directions to a desired destination and using Google Street View to see everywhere and almost anywhere. When money is tight or you need a break from your work, fulfill your traveler and explorer side with Google Street Views. With the news that Mount Fuji can now be climbed from an office chair, we decided to take a look at the extraordinary, unique places Google Street View has gone.
1. Mount Fuji – Japan’s highest mountain is now available to new sets of eyes via Google Street View. On July 23rd, 2013, the 12,400-foot trek up was recorded in 14,000 separate panorama shots by a Google team member who made it the entire way with an oversized backpack and camera on his back. Setsuo Murai is in charge of the Google Japan Geo Partnerships and stated that, “We hope [this] new imagery will give climbers a sense of the terrain to expect under their feet – especially all the night-time climbers who shuffle up in the dark to see the sunrise at the crack of dawn.” This new addition to the Google Map family is expected to bring more hikers than ever before.
2. Great Barrier Reef – Place yourself in the world’s largest aquarium and interact with sea turtles, coral, and various native fish. The magnificent reef spans 1,600 miles and 900 islands and serves as the biggest structure made up of living organisms in the world. Google Street View brings you here and shows you what it’s like to dive down into Australia’s greatest wonder. This was the first panoramic underwater ocean view added to Google’s growing repertoire, posted on September 25th, 2012. These images were shot through the SVII, a waterproof camera specially designed for this.
3. Antarctica – In school, it was always taught that Antarctica was a strange land that not many have been to; a land full of polar bears, penguins, and snowstorms. But like many other places, Google Street View uncovers the mystery of Antarctica and the huts of ancient explorers and present day expedition stations. For example, type in Scott’s Hut, Antarctica in Google Maps and you will be able to explore Robert Falcon Scott’s late-1800s cabin. These cabins are scattered throughout the continent and served as scientific laboratories and homes for explorers.
4. Ancient Mayan Ruins – Hold onto that plane ticket and save it for somewhere else. No need to take a trip down to the southern hook of Mexico when you can visit the world-known Ancient Mayan Ruins from Google Street View. Captured by a camera on a tricycle, Google hopes to complete adding all 189 National Institute of Anthropology and History marked sites. Views include Chichen Itza El Castillo, Teotihuacan, Tulum, Palenque, and Uxmal. This feature was added in 2012 and has panoramic views of areas around the sites that don’t have paved paths.
5. NASA Kennedy Space Center – It’s likely that one has heard about or even seen a United States space shuttle blast off; when a burst of light is followed by a train of smokey fire. Google Street View brings this experience to life by allowing users from all over the world to travel down to Florida and take a tour of the NASA Kennedy Space Center. From a laptop, one can see the Apollo/Saturn V Center, Apollo 14 Command Center, Atlantis space shuttle, Firing Room #3, and the Space Station Processing Facility.
6. Grand Canyon – Come and explore the 4,380-foot Grand Canyon in Arizona via Google Street View. Enjoy a hike on the Bright Angel Trail or the South Kaibab Trail, explore the Phantom Ranch, and cross the Colorado River Black Bridge. Take a look at the meteor crater from 5,709 feet above, or move below and stand at the bottom in an instant. More than 75 miles of trail has been covered, all by ten Google hikers who documented the region with panoramic cameras on their backpacks. This camera was nicknamed the Trekker, which is an Android-operated camera. Five accompanied the team for the hike.
7. Sea World – Watch Shamu and his fellow killer whales in a panoramic shot of their mid-day show at Sea World in Orlando, Florida. The Google team rode through the stadium during the show on specially made Google tricycles. Google Street View has added Sea World to its growing list of Amusement Parks on Street View in 2009. Besides the flipping whales at Sea World, one can see the sculptures at Lego Land in California, the waterslides at Wet ‘n’ Wild in Hawaii, and the races at Thunderhill Raceway Park.
Google Street View was released in 2007, with panoramic images from New York City. Today, Street View is in multiple countries and hundreds of cities. The team captures the world via the Google Street View car, trike, trolley, snowmobile, and trekker, the latter of which is currently being loaned out to people interested in sharing their favorite places with the rest of the world.
Street View has created buzz, not only around its World Wonders Collections, but around the interesting people Street View encounters on the way and symbols picked up in crop circles or on the top of buildings. One example of a Street View sight is the Mountain View Googleplex, Google’s Headquarters. Surrounding the Googleplex are employees standing outside with hands up, beach balls in the air, and “Hi Mom” signs.
For more Google Street View sights, visit MapCrunch where you can travel the world randomly every second.
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