After several years of faithful service, Street View Trekker — the portable 360-degree imaging device developed by Google to capture impressive visuals as part of its online Maps service — has been updated and made lighter.
The Trekker still takes the form of a backpack, but the updated version is lighter (the old one weighed nearly 20kg) and performance has been boosted.
The camera has been updated with higher-resolution sensors and increased aperture (although no exact figures were given), promising sharper images.
Like the previous-generation model, the new Trekker can be worn by individuals or fixed to cars, boats or even ziplines.
The Street View Trekker can be loaned to professional photographers, explorers, travelers and organisations (such as tourism boards, nonprofit organisations, administrative bodies, universities or research groups) to capture high-resolution imagery of the most far-flung and sometimes difficult-to-access parts of the planet.
Google’s aim is to shine the spotlight on sites of cultural, historical or touristic interest and make them accessible to everyone online. Trekker technology has already been used to document up-close images of chimpanzees in Tanzania and Arctic explorations. – Relaxnews
