The Google Trekker Project

This summer, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, in

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's Summer Interns (from left to right)
 Hannah Lynn, Jenny Barrack, Tina Balzotti,Maggie Byd, and
Eileen Dalessandro take the Google Trekker for a dry run on
Boston's Fish Pier

partnership with Google, will embark on a very exciting journey along the metropolitan beaches of Boston. The goal: to produce a collection of 360-degree imagery of the Greater Boston area's metropolitan beaches that online viewers can access online on Google Maps Street View. From the moment I heard Bruce utter the words, "Google Trekker", I knew this project was going to be extremely exciting, and so far, it has lived up to the expectation. From studying the design, functions, and features of the Trekker to opening the enormous case and trying on the 45-pound, image-capturing backpack for the first time, I have been nothing short of thrilled with the opportunity to be a part of such a unique project. The Trekker itself, which includes a box (called a Tbox) containing the batteries, memory cards, and software, as well as an upper frame topped with a spherical R7 camera, which includes 15 individual lenses that simultaneously capture one still image for approximately every two steps one takes. In short, the Trekker is extremely cool, and will help us to show the world how incredible and important our natural resources are, and why we need to protect them.
We will begin the project soon by exploring Savin Hill and Malibu Beach in Dorchester, where our Trekker team will create a plan and schedule a date to do the trek. Over the course of the summer, we will be using the Trekker to collect images of all of the beaches in and around Boston. We are looking forward to bringing the metropolitan beaches of the Greater Boston area to Google Maps Street View with the Google Trekker!