Google Street View, the interactive panorama feature within Google Maps, has shared eye-level images of Antarctica, gone inside NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, floated down rivers in the Amazon and strolled the halls of famous museums.
Now the company is going underwater. The company on Wednesday added panoramic undersea images of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the waters off the Apo Islands in the Philippines and underwater life around the Hawaiian islands.
The stunning photos capture fish, plants, turtles and other marine critters going about their business in faraway oceans. Now anyone can get an immersive view of the seas without getting wet or worrying about the bends. Zoom in to check out a manta ray’s belly, join a school of fish or study intricate coral up close.
The photos are part of a partnership with the Catlin Seaview Survey, an ambitious project focused on documenting the world’s reefs using high-resolution 360-degree images. Catlin is working to create a thorough archive off the world’s reefs that scientists can use to study the effects of climate change. By documenting reefs with photographs, it will be possible to determine the impact increased water temperatures and acidity will have on the areas over time.
How will this transform the future of technology and maps? Would you use this app?
Read more at: http://www.wptv.com