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Google Street View Comes To The Grand Canyon With Camera Backpack

Google Street View Comes To The Grand Canyon With Camera Backpack
Michael Rundle
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Google is taking its quest to photograph the world to an amazing new extreme with its new generation of Trekker camera backpacks.

Street View lets Google Maps users 'walk' through an area via a series of 360-degree photographs.

Since its launch in 2007 the service has expanded from covering just a few cities to include five million miles of panoramic photos. Recently Google added 250,000 miles of new roads in a single update, and it has already published pictures taken on a modified tricycle, from the cobblestone lanes of a Spanish village, and under the oceans off Australia's Coral Reef.

Now it's going even further. Its latest Street View camera is small enough to fit in a backpack.

The kit weighs 40 pounds, and takes an image every 2.5 seconds with 15 (5-megapixel) cameras.

It was announced earlier this year, but Google recently showed it off when it took the kit into the Grand Canyon, to take photographs of some of the most popular walking trails.

Google Street View In The Grand Canyon
(01 of12)
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This Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo shows view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Search engine giant Google is using the Trekker, a nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit, to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. It's the latest evolution in mapping technology for the Mountain View, Calif., company, which has used a rosette of cameras to photograph thousands of cities and towns in dozens of countries for its Street View feature. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(02 of12)
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In this Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo, Google product manager Ryan Falor walks with the Trekker during a demonstration for the media along the Bright Angel Trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The search engine giant is using the nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. Its about 4 feet in height when set on the ground, and when worn, the camera system extends 2 feet above the operators shoulders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(03 of12)
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In this Oct. 22, 2012 photo, Google operations manager Steve Silverman walks with the Trekker during a demonstration for the media along the Bright Angel Trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The search engine giant is using the nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. Its about 4 feet in height when set on the ground, and when worn, the camera system extends 2 feet above the operators shoulders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(04 of12)
Open Image Modal
This Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo shows a mule team walking along the Bright Angel Trail on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Search engine giant Google is using the Trekker, a nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit, to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. Its about 4 feet in height when set on the ground, and when worn, the camera system extends 2 feet above the operators shoulders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(05 of12)
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This Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo shows a visitor climbing on a canyon wall near the Bright Angel Trail along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. A three-wheel cart gathers images from narrow cobblestone alleys, a push cart allows for virtual tours of museums and a snowmobile captures skiers meandering down the slopes. Now the search giant Google is using a backpack-sized unit to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trail and other off-road sites. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(06 of12)
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In this Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo, Google operations manager Steve Silverman shows low-resolution images of photos gathered by the Trekker on an Android phone during a demonstration for the media along the Bright Angel Trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The search engine giant is using the Trekker, a nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit, to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. It's the latest evolution in mapping technology for the Mountain View, Calif., company, which has used a rosette of cameras to photograph thousands of cities and towns in dozens of countries for its Street View feature. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(07 of12)
Open Image Modal
This Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo shows a view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Search engine giant Google is using the Trekker, a nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit, to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. It's the latest evolution in mapping technology for the Mountain View, Calif., company, which has used a rosette of cameras to photograph thousands of cities and towns in dozens of countries for its Street View feature. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
Ryan Falor(08 of12)
Open Image Modal
In this Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo, Google product manager Ryan Falor works with the Trekker during a demonstration for the media along the Bright Angel Trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The search engine giant is using the nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. Its about 4 feet in height when set on the ground, and when worn, the camera system extends 2 feet above the operators shoulders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(09 of12)
Open Image Modal
This Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo shows the mast of Google's Trekker during a demonstration for the media along the Bright Angel Trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The search engine giant is using the nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. Its about 4 feet in height when set on the ground, and when worn, the camera system extends 2 feet above the operators shoulders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(10 of12)
Open Image Modal
This Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo shows the Google Trekker during a demonstration for the media along the Bright Angel Trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The search engine giant is using the nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. Its about 4 feet in height when set on the ground, and when worn, the camera system extends 2 feet above the operators shoulders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(11 of12)
Open Image Modal
In this Monday Oct. 22, 2012 photo, Google operation manager Steve Silverman is silhouetted against a canyon wall as he poses with the Trekker during a demonstration for the media along the Bright Angel Trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The search engine giant is using the nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. Its about 4 feet in height when set on the ground, and when worn, the camera system extends 2 feet above the operators shoulders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)
(12 of12)
Open Image Modal
In this Monday Oct. 22, 2012, photo, Google operations manager Steve Silverman stands along the canyon wall wearing the Trekker during a demonstration for the media along the Bright Angel Trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The search engine giant is using the nearly 40-pound, backpack-sized camera unit to showcase the Grand Canyons most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other off-road sites. Its about 4 feet in height when set on the ground, and when worn, the camera system extends 2 feet above the operators shoulders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (credit:AP)

The company's engineering director Luc Vincent took the backpack into the Bright Angel Trail to the Colorado River, a 10-mile hike.

Google says it wants to send the packs to Everest, the streets of Venice and ancient castles around the world - including, possibly, here in Britain.

Take a look at the kit in action below.

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