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Taj Mahal comes to your home as holidays go virtual
BBC News - Taj Mahal comes to your home as holidays go virtual
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
The Taj Mahal - India's most famous and romantic landmark - would be a fitting destination for lovers on Valentine's Day.
But not all of us can afford the air fare. So how about a virtual tour instead?
Google has teamed up with the Indian ministry of culture to bring the Taj Mahal and 99 other heritage sites to Street View.
The 17th Century Taj in Agra, Uttar Pradesh - famous for its gleaming white marble domes and towers and considered to be one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture in the world - is being mapped digitally by Google's backpack Trekker camera.
This portable kit, which enables Google to map places its Street View cars cannot reach, underpins an ambitious project to collect footage of all the world's most treasured natural and man-made landmarks.
It has already been used to map the Grand Canyon and the world's tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.
Suren Ruhela, geo product manager for Google India, told the BBC: "We are creating a digital record of these monuments and those records will live forever.
Taj Mahal The virtual tour of the Taj Mahal will give visitors access to parts they cannot get to in real life
"It's not only for this generation but many generations to come. So that's a great way of preserving the culture of the country."
Virtual supplement
The camera constantly takes photos through 15 lenses pointed in different directions. The resulting digital footage is stitched together using software to give viewers a 360-degree image and the feeling that they are walking around the monument or landmark.
Trekker cameras The 75 megapixel Trekker cameras have 15 lenses
Not all areas of the vast Taj Mahal complex, seductively set on the banks of the river Yamuna, are open to the public.
But the Trekker will be able to go where tourists cannot, providing a useful virtual supplement to the real-world visits.
The Taj already receives more than 8 million visitors a year, but the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) - the custodian of all historical sites in the country - hopes this added-value online experience will help attract even more.
"This will benefit the public," says the ASI's Munazzar Ali, a Taj conservationist. "The camera will be allowed inside closed rooms, the entire complex, the tomb in the basement - so people can finally see the Taj like never before."
Google has had a mixed reception in India, sometimes struggling to get permission for its Street View cars to operate, particularly in Bangalore. It also has an Indian street mapping rival called Wonobo, built by Genesys International Corporation.
But Google's Trekker off-road camera is proving less controversial because it has the blessing of India's ASI.
The Taj Mahal project is just one example of how the holiday and tourist industries are using technology to promote and enhance their offerings in an age when about 80% of holidaymakers research their trips online first before making a booking.
UK-based travel operator Thomas Cook, for example, has launched a range of SunConnect hotels featuring ubiquitous wi-fi connectivity and interactive games lounges for teenagers.
"Our holiday market is changing," explains John Straw, chairman of Thomas Cook's advisory board.
"It's all about sharing the experience in real time these days - we're using the internet as our memory. Soon wearable computing will record all our holiday experiences for us almost in real time, so that we can replay them later and relive the whole experience."
Google Glass Wearable technology like Google Glass will help record our holidays for posterity
Mr Straw envisages Google Glass-like technology featuring facial recognition software becoming embedded into sunglasses, helping holidaymakers see if they have social media friends in common when they're socialising at the hotel bar, for example.
Online virtual tours of hotels and resorts are an increasingly important way holiday companies market their products, he says.
Video - World Heritage Monuments of India
Video Clips of World Heritage Sites - Archaeological Survey of India
Main introduction about World Heritage sites in India ( view Video)
Cultural Sites
View
Ajanta Caves Video
Ellora Caves Video
Agra - Fort Video
Agra - Taj Mahal Video
Konark - Sun Temple Video
Mahabalipuram Video
Churches of Old Goa Video | Archaeological Museum
Khajuraho Video
Hampi Video
Fatehpur Sikri Video
Pattadakkal Video
Elephanta Caves Video
Great Living Chola Temples Video
Sanchi Video
Humayun's Tomb Video
Qutb Minar Video
Mahabodhi Temple
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka
Champaner
Mountain Railway of India
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
Natural Sites
Kaziranga National Park
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
Keoladeo National Park
Sunderbans National Park
Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers
Excavation Site
Dholivira Video
BBC News - Taj Mahal comes to your home as holidays go virtual
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
The Taj Mahal - India's most famous and romantic landmark - would be a fitting destination for lovers on Valentine's Day.
But not all of us can afford the air fare. So how about a virtual tour instead?
Google has teamed up with the Indian ministry of culture to bring the Taj Mahal and 99 other heritage sites to Street View.
The 17th Century Taj in Agra, Uttar Pradesh - famous for its gleaming white marble domes and towers and considered to be one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture in the world - is being mapped digitally by Google's backpack Trekker camera.
This portable kit, which enables Google to map places its Street View cars cannot reach, underpins an ambitious project to collect footage of all the world's most treasured natural and man-made landmarks.
It has already been used to map the Grand Canyon and the world's tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.
Suren Ruhela, geo product manager for Google India, told the BBC: "We are creating a digital record of these monuments and those records will live forever.
Taj Mahal The virtual tour of the Taj Mahal will give visitors access to parts they cannot get to in real life
"It's not only for this generation but many generations to come. So that's a great way of preserving the culture of the country."
Virtual supplement
The camera constantly takes photos through 15 lenses pointed in different directions. The resulting digital footage is stitched together using software to give viewers a 360-degree image and the feeling that they are walking around the monument or landmark.
Trekker cameras The 75 megapixel Trekker cameras have 15 lenses
Not all areas of the vast Taj Mahal complex, seductively set on the banks of the river Yamuna, are open to the public.
But the Trekker will be able to go where tourists cannot, providing a useful virtual supplement to the real-world visits.
The Taj already receives more than 8 million visitors a year, but the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) - the custodian of all historical sites in the country - hopes this added-value online experience will help attract even more.
"This will benefit the public," says the ASI's Munazzar Ali, a Taj conservationist. "The camera will be allowed inside closed rooms, the entire complex, the tomb in the basement - so people can finally see the Taj like never before."
Google has had a mixed reception in India, sometimes struggling to get permission for its Street View cars to operate, particularly in Bangalore. It also has an Indian street mapping rival called Wonobo, built by Genesys International Corporation.
But Google's Trekker off-road camera is proving less controversial because it has the blessing of India's ASI.
The Taj Mahal project is just one example of how the holiday and tourist industries are using technology to promote and enhance their offerings in an age when about 80% of holidaymakers research their trips online first before making a booking.
UK-based travel operator Thomas Cook, for example, has launched a range of SunConnect hotels featuring ubiquitous wi-fi connectivity and interactive games lounges for teenagers.
"Our holiday market is changing," explains John Straw, chairman of Thomas Cook's advisory board.
"It's all about sharing the experience in real time these days - we're using the internet as our memory. Soon wearable computing will record all our holiday experiences for us almost in real time, so that we can replay them later and relive the whole experience."
Google Glass Wearable technology like Google Glass will help record our holidays for posterity
Mr Straw envisages Google Glass-like technology featuring facial recognition software becoming embedded into sunglasses, helping holidaymakers see if they have social media friends in common when they're socialising at the hotel bar, for example.
Online virtual tours of hotels and resorts are an increasingly important way holiday companies market their products, he says.
Video - World Heritage Monuments of India
Video Clips of World Heritage Sites - Archaeological Survey of India
Main introduction about World Heritage sites in India ( view Video)
Cultural Sites
View
Ajanta Caves Video
Ellora Caves Video
Agra - Fort Video
Agra - Taj Mahal Video
Konark - Sun Temple Video
Mahabalipuram Video
Churches of Old Goa Video | Archaeological Museum
Khajuraho Video
Hampi Video
Fatehpur Sikri Video
Pattadakkal Video
Elephanta Caves Video
Great Living Chola Temples Video
Sanchi Video
Humayun's Tomb Video
Qutb Minar Video
Mahabodhi Temple
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka
Champaner
Mountain Railway of India
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
Natural Sites
Kaziranga National Park
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
Keoladeo National Park
Sunderbans National Park
Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers
Excavation Site
Dholivira Video
