Making Your Own Google Maps

Streetview Technology, a company based out of Germany, has created a DIY-streetview Camera kit, allowing users to take pictures in a method similar to how Google Maps generates their data. The camera has six sensors and covers 90 percent of what is in sight, excluding the backpack or car mount that it rests on.

"The DIY-streetview camera releases every [three] seconds, no matter what. It has a buil[t]-in GPS receiver and orientation sensor that saves extra data including the location for each release," Streertview's website reads. The camera's battery life last approximately four hours and, with the backpack, the equipment weighs about 18 pounds.

On pricing, Streetview Technology General Manager Jan Martin Mantkowski wrote in an email to the Huffington Post, "[The] main clients so far are companies doing either mapping or surveying. They do serious work and have the budget for the DIY-streetview Camera System." Prices for the cameras are not publicly available without requesting a quote.

Still, Streetview Technology is keeping the public in mind. "We just started a recording service to make this technology available to a greater public for little money."

And how does Mantkowski think the average photographer or techie will use this technology?

"Everyone has to tell a story. And a single image is worth a thousand words. How much is a panorama? Or [a] thousand panoramas that can be shot in less than an hour?" he writes. "Amazing stories are to be told."

How would you use this type of mapping technology? Let us know in the comments section or tweet us at @HuffPostTech.

Check out the slideshow below to view more of the DIY-streetview Camera System.

• DIY-streetview Backpack

  The backpack and camera together weight about 18 pounds, and can be fashioned into an <a href="http://www.diy-streetview.com/backpack/" target="_hplink">"operation" and "storage"</a> position. This equipment lets users ride their bike or walk the street, with the camera gathering data every three seconds.

• DIY-streetview Camera System

  The <a href="http://www.diy-streetview.com/diy-streetview-camera-system/" target="_hplink">whole DIY kit</a> is featured here, including the camera, image processing server and Google custom streetview player.

• DIY-streetview Camera

  Here is an up close shot of the camera with its six sensors, creating a <a href="http://www.diy-streetview.com/camera/" target="_hplink">panorama size of 7500 x 3750 pixels. </a>

• DIY-streetview Car Mount

  Walking or biking isn't the only way to take panoramic photos. This <a href="http://www.diy-streetview.com/car-mount/" target="_hplink">car mount</a> allows users to place their camera on top of a vehicle, in a method similar to how Google's street-view maps were created.

• Interested In Learning More About Photos And Maps?

  Learn how to browse Flickr photos and combine it with Google maps.

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