New 360-degree spherical panoramic images of Yushan (玉山), Taiwan’s highest peak at 3,952m, were yesterday uploaded as part of the Google Taiwan Street View function, the company said.
Using a Google Cardboard headset, Internet users can now get a 3D virtual reality (VR) view of Yushan and the surrounding mountains, the search engine provider said.
Google Cardboard is a VR and augmented reality (AR) platform developed by Google for use with a head mount for a mobile phone.
Photo: CNA
The company said it provides full support for the use of Google Cardboard VR in Street View, which allows people to virtually explore scenic locations, such as Yushan, that they might otherwise never get to visit.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Google Taiwan’s operations and the eighth anniversary of Google Street View in Taiwan, Google Greater China and Southeast Asia Street View program manager Cynthia Wei (魏薌君) said.
The street view team embarked on the Yushan mission in September last year and visited the mountain twice to get the images.
The completion of the Yushan project is a landmark for the service, Wei said.
Using online maps and images of Yushan provided by the virtual reality app, people wanting to hike Taiwan’s highest peak can map their route online, Wei said.
The updated app also allows people to go on immersive virtual journeys to other scenic sites in Taiwan using a smartphone and Google Cardboard.
So far, more than 600 sites in Taiwan have been added to the app.
In 2013, Google launched the Trekker Loan Program that enables various organizations to borrow Google’s Trekker photographic equipment and take 360-degree photographs at hard-to-reach locations around the world.
Google has added imagery from a variety of locations using the program.
Several Taiwan-based organizations have taken part in the program, including the Forestry Bureau’s Luodong Forest District Office and National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Building and Planning.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit