Google’s Street View team has traveled by boat and bike through the Amazon to capture panoramic images and views of the communities and surrounding area.
The majority of Amazon residents live in isolated villages, and the internet supergiant enlisted several local residents to pedal camera-equipped tricycles. They also left equipment behind with them so they could share their culture, way of life and points of view with the world as their audience.
In order to go carry out the project, Google teamed up with the Sustainable Amazon Project. SAF is a non-profit organization that works to promote economic, environmental and social awareness of the Amazon and the values of its inhabitants, as their cultures are largely inaccessible to the majority of the world.
According to a blog post written by Google Earth Outreach workers, “Soon, you’ll be able to float down the Amazon and Rio Negro Rivers of northwest Brazil and experience some of the most remote and biodiverse areas in the world.â€
The Google and SAF teams are taking on the first phase of the project by capturing images from a 50km section of the Rio Negro River, extending from the Tumbira community near Manaus, the capital, to the Terra Preta community. The imagery is then processed and developed into 360-degree panoramic photos.
Some other recent locations to check out on Street View include the Palace of Versailles, Brazil’s beaches, Pompeii, the Australian outback, and the plains of Africa. Last year, some of the most exciting sights were photos of penguins in Antartica, after cameras were placed on all-terrain trikes and snowmobiles.
It blows my mind that a project like this can show so many people around the world what it’s like in places they are very unlikely to ever go. Kind of gives a whole new meaning to “The 9 Billion,†doesn’t it?
Via metro
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