Google Maps has digitally enabled the tour of the streets of Bangladesh starting today.
Google has introduced the first Street View imagery of Bangladesh,
making this the 65th country to come online through Street View. This
new Street View imagery allows anyone with an Internet connection to
view 360-degree panoramas of public roads within Dhaka and Chittagong,
and 42 notable sites from across the country, such as the National
Parliament house and the Kantajeu Temple.
The imagery can be accessed by dragging the orange “Pegman” icon on
the bottom right-hand side of the map over and into a blue highlighted
road. In the Google Maps for mobile app on Android and iOS, people can
also search for local destinations and where available, access Street
View imagery directly from the search result.
Locals can use the street-level panoramas to check out new views of
familiar and unfamiliar landscapes, research driving routes, arrange
meeting points, and explore their own cities more closely. Bangladeshi
businesses can also embed Google Maps directly into their sites. Hotels
in Dhaka, for example, can show their prospective guests what the
building looks like on the street and also provide them with a sense of
the surrounding neighborhood.
“The Street View project is an interesting one, because it shows how
ICT technologies can have benefits across a wide range of sectors in
Bangladesh from business to tourism. With Vision 2021 Digital
Bangladesh, the government is striving to bring positive change to each
of these sectors and society generally, as well as the delivery of
government services through increased deployment of ICT technologies,”
said Obaidul Qader, Minister of Road Transport and Bridges Ministry.
Today Google also introduced the Street View Trekker, a wearable
backpack camera system, to Bangladesh. Designed to capture 360-degree
photographs of places only accessible by foot, the Street View Trekker
will allow Google to help capture more of Bangladesh’s off-road sites
and make these landscapes easily accessible for everyone to experience
online.
“We hope this new Street View imagery helps show Bangladesh to the
world from a fresh perspective. From showcasing bustling roads in Dhaka
to the some of the countries’ most well known temples, Street View can
help raise awareness of the country as an emerging destination for
visitors around the world. We look forward to bringing more of
Bangladesh online through Google Maps over the next months,” said Ann
Lavin, Director, Public Policy, Google Asia Pacific.
