Google’s street view has taken us from the streets of Tel Aviv to the Grand Canyon and even under the sea, and now this incredible tool has reached new heights – 2,716 feet to be exact.Using their swanky new Street View Trekker backpacks, a team from Google has mapped out views from the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa.
The intrepid Google team that set out to capture images from the soaring skyscraper in Dubai needed three days to get the job done.
Not only did they capture photographs from the 80th floor window cleaning gantry, they also ascended to the vertigo-inducing heights of the 124th floor, where they encountered 40mph winds.
Trekker backpacks and trolleys were key to the successful execution of this daring project.
These are new android-powered cameras, 15 five megapixel cameras in one resilient backpack, that Google designed in order to reach places that even a bicycle or snow machine can’t reach.
The 40 pound packs have two batteries that last all day, according to Google.
“The Burj Khalifa is special because it’s the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world” said Pascal Malite, Google’s Street View Program Manager.
“We are here to bring to the user the possibility to see this huge, immense, wonderful building,” she added.
This is the first time that Google’s Street View team has worked on a project like this in an Arab country, and now it is possible for just about anyone to experience the Burj without a costly, carbon-intensive flight across the globe.
:: Engadget
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
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