Google announces Trekker, a project using backpack units to record off-road ‘Street View’ data

In a bundle of announcements today Google has said that it is going off road with Street View Trekker. This is a backpack unit that can be used to go off road to gather more detailed information about areas not on the road.

As Google started out with cars to capture routes and locations, it then gathered more details on snowmobiles and trolleys, now it is refining that a little more on foot.

There are some places where you just cannot drive, including conservation sites like the Grand Canyon and so Google technicians have been out with some rather strange luggage to capture this photographically.

It looks like hard work too – the image shows Luc Vincent, engineering director, taking the Street View Trekker for a trial run in Tahoe.