Hot on the heels on the addition of Disneyland Paris to Street View, it seems Alton is soon to become the latest attraction to be added to the service. Street View allows users to take “virtual walks” through areas, allowing them to gain a full 360 degree view.
Originally the service was launched to map streets and roads via the use of cameras mounted to specially adapted cars. However more recently the “Google Trike”, a modified tricycle has enabled smaller areas to be accessed and mapped. One of these trikes has been seen on park today, presumably recording images for later use in the Street View application.
Alton Towers isn’t the first Merlin attraction to be featured in the Street View service. LEGOLAND California was recently added in mid August, enabling users to take a virtual walk through the attraction. It’s unknown at present whether further Merlin attractions will be or indeed have been mapped.
The Google Trike along with its recording equipment weighs almost 18 stone and has the same on board features as the Street View cars. At present, its not known how long the mapping will take or indeed when it will appear for public view on the Google Maps service. One recent addition, Disneyland Paris was mapped in October last year but did not go live on the service until June 2009.
