Want to help Google Maps go where no maps have gone before? Sign up to wear the Google Street View Trekker backpack.

It’s been a while since Google Maps were simply digital road maps. Now, these living charts show us public transit, the best routes for walking and biking, and can even show you what your destination will look like before you arrive.

Brought to you by those colorful cars with the funny spherical cameras on top, Google Street View lets you explore places around the world through 360-degree street-level imagery. Now, however, Google is taking maps far beyond the street.

Extreme mapping expeditions have taken Google adventurers and their sophisticated panoramic cameras to the ends of the Earth in an attempt to make the entire world accessible from a laptop screen. With Google Street View, you can now hike the Grand Canyon, explore the ocean floor, or visit your favorite National Park, all from the comfort of your couch.

Until recently, driving the Google car or participating in one of these daring mapping expeditions was a privilege reserved for the few. But now, Google Street View is giving average outdoor enthusiasts a chance to get in on the action.

The tech giant recently debuted the Trekker backpack. Outfitted with a camera system on top, it enables the wearer to gather images while maneuvering through tight, narrow spaces or locations only accessible by foot. “The Trekker enables Street View to feature more places around the world – places no car, trike, trolley or snowmobile can access,” explains Google. The camera is “operated by an Android device and consists of 15 lenses angled in a different direction so the images can be stitched together into 360-degree panoramic views. As the operator walks, photos are taken roughly every 2.5 seconds.”

Anyone–from University students to tourism boards–who wants to help collect imagery of hard to reach places can apply to borrow the Trekker and help map the world. Apply here!

Image: Google

The post Map The World: Apply To Wear The Google Street View Backpack appeared first on EcoSalon.

The best/worst of crazy, this week at EcoSalon.

Vivienne Westwood, oh-so-reserved lady of A-list fashion, is on a mission – and that mission is getting us to buy less clothes. Yep.

Fancy tucking to dinner underwater, or in pitch darkness? Check out our roundup of 10 of the strangest restaurants in the world (as if food isn’t complicated enough on its own).

It’s been another good year for sexism, as this bumper crop of dumb-as-a-stick comments about women demonstrates.

Google Street View is now taking in views of the Great Barrier Reef (while it still can).

Finally, the really crazy news this week is…we’re up for sale. And that means we need your help. Want us to remain your favorite voice of slightly-less-madness in a sea of madness? Spread the word!

The post The Friday 5: The World’s Gone Freaking Mad Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

Panorama views of the sea floor FTW!

This, believe it or not, is an image from Google Street View.

What happened here? Appallingly bad driving? In fact it’s the result of a partnership between Street View and the Catlin Seaview Survey  – you can see the current collection here.

What’s the point of this? It’s designed to do two things – promote Google Maps, which is under pressure from its rivals (although not the beleaguered Apple Maps on iOS 6), and to promote the health of 71% of our planet. This month the Catlin Seaview Survey kicked off with two expeditions to sites along the 2,300km-long Great Barrier Reef & Coral Sea, taking images with specially designed 360-degree-view cameras to be stitched together into gorgeous Street View panoramas.

But there’s a serious side to the fun. These images are also designed to act as a snapshot record of the state of these reefs, so scientists can track changes in reef health. Those changes shouldn’t be long in coming, if studies from Brazil and the Caribbean are any indicators. Last chance to see? We sincerely hope not.

Image: jurvetson

The post Google Street View Goes Diving – And Here’s Why We Should Care appeared first on EcoSalon.