Google has just dropped their very own DIY-street-view-tool that lets you contribute to their global network of images with your own camera.

The 360 degree virtual tours can be created by using photos taken by an Android phone or DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera. The new tool lets users connect their various photos and, once published, people can navigate between them on Google Maps.

This will significantly contribute to Google’s global mapping database.

“We are excited to see the different types of Street View experiences that everyone will contribute,” the firm said in a blog post.

For example, this feature can now enable environmental non-profits to document and promote the beautiful places they strive to protect. It also opens up a new tool for photographers to showcase diversity in a specific location – by times of day, weather conditions or cultural events – in a way that Street View currently doesn’t cover.

In the past, Google usually sent out cars and trikes to gather the images, which made it difficult to capture locations that were less accessible. Earlier this year, they created a modified backpack called the  ‘Trekker’, to enable people to walk to remote locations and get the 360 degree images required.

The Trekker has already been through the Grand Canyon, and on top of the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa.

[Source : BBC]