By Saem Hashmi:
Where are you? Bored of sitting on your bed in front of your laptop or on the couch in front of the TV? Want to do something crazy and different, and perhaps go visit a place? Are you a history person with keen interest for historical buildings and architecture? Well now all this is available to you with just a click of the button. No, this isn’t yet another of those tour packages but what one can do easily from home even while sitting with family members and have a virtual tour of various monuments.
Google India along with Archaeological Survey of India has created an online 360 degree view of some 30 monuments via its street car view which has made available a panoramic view of these monuments which can be accessed by the entire world by simply searching for them on Google earth or Google maps and thus begin a virtual tour irrespective of where you are and whether you can afford one in reality. The video below shall let you know of how the street view mapping is done.
The main aim of the project has been to create a panoramic view of some of the most important and world renowned monuments and make them available to the world in order to make the unique and iconic culture and heritage of India easily accessible to all people of the world.
As of now, Google has created online images of some 30 monuments and aims at covering 100 most important national heritage sites in India. The map below shows the area where you can actually have a virtual 3-D tour of panoramic street view (though I bet it’s not going to be as fun as being there) of the streets and live with a virtual presence.
To sum it up, the service is pretty cool and gives you an opportunity to visit monuments or places from anywhere with internet access. It is a great idea for the students of history and architecture to talk of the designing used on the buildings in presentations by bringing in the 3D panoramic view, or it can be spiced up as a virtual date or perhaps if you are a loner then with a bottle of wine. Check out the virtual tour of Taj Mahal and make your decision!
The tour I had was pretty fascinating as I have never been to Taj Mahal but the tour was defined with extreme detailing and finesse of the photos of the Taj Mahal. The panoramic view and the structuring had me dumbstruck and the way this tour works is surreal. The concept is mind boggling and amazing to explore, especially if you are a history person with an extreme fascination for monuments, historical buildings and architecture. Well. you have it right in front of you – the cheapest tour ever!