Coming to a wilderness near you – the Google Street View Trike
Google has introduced the latest tool in its bid to photograph Australia – the Google Street View Trike, which makes its debut at Taronga Zoo today.
While Google Street View cars – equipped with a camera mounted on the roof – have been used to capture many of Australia’s roads for Google Maps, the pedal-powered Street View Trike goes off-road.
The 110kg modified bicycle is mounted with a Street View camera and GPS system.
In a release, Google said: “The Street View Trike will help Google gather images of off-the-beaten track and pedestrian-only locations across the country, taking Street View beyond road-accessed landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge to places like Taronga Zoo and perhaps even national parks.”
Google Australia engineering manager Raul Vera said: “We’re lucky enough to live in a country with some of the most spectacular natural environments and architectural features on the globe, and the Trike will allow us to get off-road to share these marvels with people around Australia and the world.
The Google Street View images collected by the trike will be live on Google Maps later this year.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
Linkedin