Google Trekker photographs Columbus parks for worldwide view

Columbus’ parks system and other green space throughout the city will be visible to the world after images from a new form of photo technology are released online.

As part of a nationwide effort to increase the number of parks photos available online through the Google Street View feature, the local parks department spent most of a week taking photos of Columbus’ various parks with a Google Trekker.

The Google Trekker is a 50-pound orb equipped with 15 internal cameras that, when turned on, take photos every 2.5 seconds to create a panoramic view of the surrounding scenery, said Lisa Nye, Indiana Park and Recreation Association executive director.

The Google company is using the Trekker as part of a nationwide initiative to gather more images of parks across the country that can be viewed online through the Street View function, thus encouraging people to visit those parks.

For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.