14 DAY TRIAL // There's a lot of interesting stuff in Google Street View. Besides all of the cityscapes, there are several famous locations, which would otherwise be hardly accessible, photographed. Now, Google is adding an interior location as well, the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad.
The location houses some of the oldest and most prized artifacts known to man, but the treasures haven't been seen by many.
"Without the stress of travelling, we’ve all been able to tour places like Stonehenge, Palace and Park of Versailles, and even Half Moon Island (with the penguins!) in Antarctica," Google's Alex Starns, Technical Program Manager, wrote.
"Starting today, you can view Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad on Google Maps, in our Street View Gallery and on the museum’s own website," he announced.
Google is providing a rather unique opportunity to get an inside view of the museum and a closeup of the things on display.
"The collection hosts a staggering wealth of artifacts dating back to some of the earliest human settlements," he said.
"The history of this area is often underrepresented, or otherwise inaccessible, in large part due to the political strife that has plagued Iraq," he explained.
It wasn't an easy task either, for several reasons. The remote location was just part of the problem.
Google had some experience shooting 360 degree interior panoramas, having visited several art museums for its Google Art Project, the technology was not yet robust enough for what the company wanted in Iraq.
Stil, Google managed to adapt the Street View trolley for the occasion and get some quality shots.
The images are now available in Street View for Google Maps, but also on the museum's website. What's more, Google also shot high resolution 360 photos of some of the artifacts at the museum, which are also available on the site.