Google Earth expanded its聽 to include 360-degree imagery of聽El Capitan Meadow and Bridalveil Fall, among other iconic landmarks, according to Deanna聽Yick, the聽program manager of Google Maps Street View.
In June, Google partnered with Yosemite National Park聽and rock climbers Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold, and Lynn Hill聽to create a map of El Capitan鈥攖he first time Street View had been used to map a聽vertical route.聽This time, the focus was on areas in the park that could be reached by foot.聽To capture imagery of聽the John Muir Trail and Camp 4, the Street View Team and members of the production team at 鈥攚ho also worked on the El Capitan project鈥攈iked the park while wearing聽a Street View Trekker, a backpack equipped with a camera that takes a photo every 2.5 seconds.
鈥淭his imagery was taken by bringing the Trekker technology to areas that are super popular and that fill the gaps we had in the Yosemite Street View,鈥 said聽Yick. 鈥淢aking sure it鈥檚 seamless is what enables people to get really an immersive experience.鈥
The Street View team also received permission from the park service to capture imagery of the , which is currently聽off-limits to park visitors.聽鈥淚t鈥檚 not accessible to everyone for preservation reasons, so we worked with the National Park Service to make sure we could provide it online in lieu of seeing it in person,鈥 said Yick.
With the upcoming National Park Service centennial next year, Yick said that the聽Street View team hopes聽to continue bringing Street View to the country's parks and trails.聽鈥淲e鈥檙e super aware of the centennial and are constantly working with the park service to see where Street View can go next and [what it can]聽bring online.鈥澛