Posts Tagged ‘cool tools’

Google Maps Trekker Camera

climateadaptation:

The Google Maps folks debut their amazing “Trekker” camera in the Grand Canyon. #coolestjobever

On its first official outing, the Street View team is using the Trekker—a wearable backpack with a camera system on top—to traverse the Grand Canyon and capture 360-degree images of one of the most breathtaking natural landscapes on the planet.

This week, photos are being gathered from portions of the South Rim at Grand Canyon National Park, including the ridge, the famous Bright Angel Trail, South Kaibab Trail, and more. These panoramic views will soon be live on Google Maps, giving everyone from real-life visitors to armchair travelers the opportunity to marvel at this beautiful, majestic site from the comfort of their computers or mobile devices.

google lat-long blog

smarterplanet:

Ikea’s Augmented-Reality Catalog Might Be the Company’s Best-Made Product Yet | Gizmodo

We’ve already shared our favorite items from Ikea’s 2013 product catalog, but what we didn’t know was that as of July 31st, the catalog itself will be an interactive product of the latest augmented-reality technology.

iOS and Android users who download the Ikea catalog app, will be able to unlock video features, interactive experiences with products on the page, photo galleries and additional decorating inspiration.

Developed by the creative agency McCann, the AR app is a project that the Swedish build-it-yourself furniture empire has been working on for quite a while, since 2011 when they first expressed interset in bridging the print/digital divide. Linus Karlsson, Global Chief Creative Officer of McCann, explained to Wired that replacing the paper catalog with an entirely digital product wouldn’t make sense, “If you had a magazine that had 211 million copies in circulation, you just would’t end it. That would be crazy.”

With this added digital layer, shopping Ikea’s collection will become a little bit easier—an “X-ray” feature allows you to peer inside cabinets, for example, making a trip to the brick-and-mortar store potentially unnecessary. (Not enough of Ikea’s collection is available for purchase online to cut out a trip to the store entirely.)

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)