The process of gathering geodata-rich images from AIT began on 1
September 2015, when the Google Street View car traversed the roads and
lanes of the Institute for an entire day filming AIT’s clean and green
campus.The Google Trekker, which is a 40-pound camera device includes a
Global Positioning System (GPS), laser scanner, and has 15 lenses
pointed at different directions enabling the creation of a 360-degree
panoramic views.
After the imagery is captured via various means and the photographs
have been collected, they are processed and stitched together to create
a panorama view. Google also uses face and license plate blurring
technology to ensure that passers-by are not identifiable.
“We were considering different options to create a virtual campus so
that people around the world can access our beautiful campus via the
Internet, and it was decided to invite Google Street View to visit
AIT,” Dr. Sarawut Ninsawat of the Remote Sensing and Geographical
Information Systems (RS/GIS) field of study said. "This will help
promote AIT, enable our students to gain experience, and it is a move
towards building a collaboration with Google Maps,” Dr. Sarawut
added.
The Street View team visited the Institute in mid-August, when they
consulted Dr. Sarawut and Dr. Sanit Arunpold of RS&GIS, along with
their students.
For places where the car cannot travel, AIT students volunteered to
carry the backpack and walk through the various green areas and
corridors. This will ensure complete coverage of the AIT campus, and
help produce a panoramic view. Further, once the process is completed,
volunteers can also submit photographs which can be added to Google
Maps, Dr. Sarawut added.
Besides the car and the backpack cameras, the visiting team used a
tripod-based camera to capture images from the lobby of the AIT
Conference Center. In the coming weeks, this process will also be
extended to include the AIT Library, Dr. Sarawut revealed.
AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai appreciated the initiative
and thanked volunteer students, commending them for carrying the “heavy
backpacks” around the campus. The initiative adds to the modernization
campaign of the AIT library, where a state-of-the-art facility is being
created ensuring that AIT remains at the cutting-edge of
technology.
Volunteer students included Mr. Jaturong Som-ard and Mr. Sajja Sravan
(Google Trekker and survey team), Mr. Zahid Mushtaq Wani (Trajectory
Design), and Mr. Chairath Sirirattanapol, Mr. Sai Kolasani and Mr.Sathi
Reddy (team support).
A select number of university campuses are currently on Street View.
They can be viewed at this link: https://www.google.com/maps/streetview/#university-campuses
AIT students huddle along the Google Street
View car.