Streetview Technology, a company based out of Germany, has created a DIY-streetview Camera kit, allowing users to take pictures in a method similar to how Google Maps generates their data. The camera has six sensors and covers 90 percent of what is in sight, excluding the backpack or car mount that it rests on.
"The DIY-streetview camera releases every [three] seconds, no matter what. It has a buil[t]-in GPS receiver and orientation sensor that saves extra data including the location for each release," Streertview's website reads. The camera's battery life lasts approximately four hours and, with the backpack, the equipment weighs about 18 pounds.
On pricing, Streetview Technology General Manager Jan Martin Mantkowski wrote in an email to the Huffington Post, "[The] main clients so far are companies doing either mapping or surveying. They do serious work and have the budget for the DIY-streetview Camera System." Prices for the cameras are not publicly available without requesting a quote.
Still, Streetview Technology is keeping the public in mind. "We just started a recording service to make this technology available to a greater public for little money."
And how does Mantkowski think the average photographer or techie will use this technology?
"Everyone has to tell a story. And a single image is worth a thousand words. How much is a panorama? Or [a] thousand panoramas that can be shot in less than an hour?" he writes. "Amazing stories are to be told."
How would you use this type of mapping technology? Let us know in the comments section or tweet us at @HuffPostTech.
Check out the slideshow below to view more of the DIY-streetview Camera System.
