Google Street View launched in 2007, giving web users the ability to tour neighborhoods with a series of 360° panoramic maps. The technology seemed pretty straightforward … until people realized that it wasn’t. Since ‘07, techies have figured out some cool and unexpected uses for the software, and Google began using it to offer virtual tours of famous historical sites (Pompeii, Stonehenge and Versailles) and then international museums, ranging from the MoMA and Met in New York City, to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. (More on that here.) And now they’re pushing the limits of the technology just a bit further.
Yesterday Google announced that Street View will let you experience the beauty and diversity of the Amazon basin. Once you enter Street View’s Amazon tour, you can:
Take a virtual boat ride down the main section of the Rio Negro, and float up into the smaller tributaries where the forest is flooded. Stroll along the paths of Tumbira, the largest community in the Reserve, or visit some of the other communities who invited us to share their lives and cultures. Enjoy a hike along an Amazon forest trail and see where Brazil nuts are harvested. You can even see a forest critter if you look hard enough!
The video above explains how the project got started and how the images were gathered, while also offering a quick demo of the online experience. You can start your voyage to the Amazon here, or head to Google’s blog to learn more about this project created in partnership with the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS).
Note: Are you a writer interested in educational technology and open educational resources? And, do you want to write for Open Culture? Then drop us a line.
I don’t really understand the point of all this googling….
If the government can’t see, the internet will.