Nature Valley Trail View is ‘street view’ for national parks

by Kraig Becker on

Earlier this week, Nature Valley launched a fun new website that delivers a Google Street View-like experience for hiking trails in some of America’s most popular and iconic national parks. Dubbed Nature Valley Trail View, the new site allows hikers to explore over 300 miles of trail directly from their browser.

Much like its counter-part from Google, Trail View actually puts us on the ground and gives us a 360-degree view of the surroundings as we take a virtual hike through the wilderness. It also offers information about the trail that is currently being displayed, including: its length, level of difficulty and important points of interest along the way. This makes it a great tool for scouting potential hikes in the national parks before we go while also providing insights into what to expect when we’re actually out on the hike.

At the moment, Trail View features three of the more popular and famous national parks – Grand Canyon, Great Smokey Mountains, and Yellowstone. The video below gives us a glimpse at the technology that has gone into creating the new website, which is just the latest initiative from Nature Valley, a company that has a long history of supporting the national parks in a variety of important ways.

Enjoy the video then go take a virtual hike.


Globe Genie magically transports you around the world

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Ever had the feeling while traveling that you’d stumbled across something truly extraordinary? A beautiful unknown view or place that wasn’t in your guidebook and only you discovered? That’s how you’ll probably feel after using Globe Genie, a nifty project that lets you randomly “teleport” around the world using Google’s Street View feature.

What is Globe Genie exactly? It’s a project created by MIT grad student Joe McMichael. McMichael took the same software code that powers Google Street View and randomized it. Instead of letting you search for the street view of a place you already know, Globe Genie shows you a random view based on a list of continents chosen from a menu on the right. Choose where you want to “go,” and hit the “teleport” button, and suddenly you’re standing in a farm field in Hokkaido, Japan. Click teleport again. You’re along the coast in Marseille, France. Once again. A tree-lined highway in Mississippi. In other words, Globe Genie lets you experience the thrill of traveling to a new place without ever leaving your desk.

The problem with looking at photos and video of far-off destinations is they are on some level, predictable. You already have an image in your mind of the Eiffel Tower or a beach in Thailand before you get there. What makes Globe Genie truly addictive is that element of randomness – you literally have no idea where you might end up next. Combined with a truly massive database of places and you have a very interesting idea on your hands. Can looking at a computer replace a truly amazing trip? No way. But projects like Globe Genie are proving incredibly addictive for armchair travelers everywhere.

[Via Metafilter]

European Union puts the thumbscrews on Google Street View maps

by Scott Carmichael on



Google Street View is probably one of the coolest mapping applications of the past decade (along with satellite images). I’ll regularly pull up a Street View map before I head to a destination I’ve never been to, and in most cases, the images make it much easier for me to navigate. I’ve even used it on my Google powered phone as a way to get an idea where I’m heading.

Sadly, the European Union isn’t as big a fan – their privacy laws are some of the strictest in the world, which is obviously great for privacy fans. but not so much for fans of Google Street View.

In a ruling last week, the EU has demanded that Google start deleting all uncensored Street View images after just 6 months (in Europe, Google has to blur all faces), and that Google has to start announcing in advance where their camera car will be filming.

The members of “The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party” want to see the announcements made on Google.com and in the local media.

Of course, these new measures may prove too problematic for Google, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Europeans find themselves without Street View images if the current plan doesn’t change.

Pompeii now on Google Street View

by Sean McLachlan on

The ancient Roman city of Pompeii is the latest addition to Google Street View.

Available from Google’s UNESCO World Heritage list of street views, it’s the latest addition to a selection of famous sites that includes Stonehenge, Prague’s historic center, and the Roman/Medieval Spanish town of Segovia.

Pompeii was a Roman provincial town near the Gulf of Naples in Italy. It was buried by a massive eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Thick layers of volcanic ash kept the town in a remarkable state of preservation. Visitors (and now web surfers) can admire buildings, statues, wall paintings, graffiti, even furniture. The most eerie bits are the plaster casts of the eruption’s many victims. Their bodies rotted away and left holes in the hardened ash. Modern archaeologists filled these with plaster to create ghostly images of men, women, and children perishing from suffocation.

Pompeii and its neighboring town of Herculaneum give an unparalleled look into the daily life of the Roman Empire. The Italian government hopes that having Pompeii on the web it will encourage more visitors. While a walk through its virtual streets is a fun way to kill time at work, it’s nothing compared with doing it for real.

Greece blocks Google Street View

by Catherine Bodry on

If you’ve ever been worried that Google Street View might expose your closet smoking habit, Greece might be the country for you to hang out in for a while. There, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority has banned Street View “until it provides further guarantee about privacy.” Though Street View is intended to show, well, the view of the street in a 360-degree panorama, the camera lens also inadvertently captures folks going about their every-day activities: sitting in cafés, walking down the street hand in hand with a secret lover….

Though bad habits and infidelity are not necessarily the issues Greece officials are concerned about, they do want to ensure that Street View complies with local privacy laws. Until Google can provide “further clarification … about how long it will store images for and the measures in place to make people aware of privacy rights,” you’re free to go about your clandestine business on the streets of Greece.

[Via CNN]