1 / 12
img-0107-660x495
When we first saw Google’s Trekker contraption in June (see photo above), we were impressed that the company was able to squeeze all of its Street View technology into what is essentially a high-tech backpack. Before Trekker, Google had to load an entire Subaru full of equipment in order to capture continuously panning images of city streets. But now all that image-capture and location-awareness tech can be strapped on one’s back.
Trekker is relatively lightweight at 35 pounds, and its 15-lens, 360-degree camera can shoot 46-megapixel images. Everything can be controlled via an Android phone, making this dynamo even more of a technological marvel than it would seem at first glance.
But the Trekker isn’t the only back-strapped gadget to capture Wired’s collective imagination. After Google showed off its one-man-street-view-van in June, we began researching the history of gadgets and technologies that strap to one’s back, and were blown away by the sheer volume of examples. Some are pure fiction, mind you, and many are variations of the basic jet pack theme. But that doesn’t diminish their curiosity factor one bit.
Have we missed any other back-strapped technologies? Let us know in the comments below!
Additional reporting by Peter McCollough.
Photo: Nathan Olivarez-Giles/Wired
