Google announced they are now mapping the Grand Canyon.
To do so, they outfit Googlers with backpacks with a camera system to take 360-degree images as they Googler walks through the Grand Canyon. The goal is to get street view quality images of the Grand Canyon in order to map walking directions.
Google Maps said on Google+:
On its first official outing, the Google Maps team is using the Trekker—a wearable Street View backpack with a camera system on top—to traverse the Grand Canyon and capture 360-degree images of one of the most breathtaking natural landscapes on the planet. Read more: http://goo.gl/P7OHUWe’ll keep you posted when the imagery comes live to Google Maps.
Here is a video of MSNBC interviewing Google about this while at the Grand Canyon.
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Pretty neat, don't you think? So they map streets, inside stores, malls, biking directions, sometimes even boats and heck, maybe the moon!
Forum discussion at Google+.