Faroe Islanders Create Their Own Version Of Google Street View

Google Street View has been had millions of people explore distant places without having to leave their homes. However, the tech company has not approved to visit the distant Faroe Islands with its infamous 360 degree cameras. Now, residents of the island took matters into their own hands and set up Sheep View.

According to Mail Online, Faroe Islands are located between the Shetlands, Iceland and Norway. It is so remote that Google Street View has not been able to reach it yet. So, with the help of a local shepherd and a specially made harness built by an islander, Durita Dahl Andreassen of Visit Faroe Islands mounted 360-degree cameras on 5 island's sheep.

This will allow the camera to record and take pictures as the sheep walk and graze around the island. The pictures are then sent to Andreassen using GPS coordinates, which she later uploads to Google Street View.

"Here in the Faroe Islands we have to do things our way," says Andreassen. "Knowing that we are so small and Google is so big, we felt this was the thing to do."

The Irish Times reported that the Sheep View team has managed to take panoramic images of five different locations on the island. The team has also produced a 360 video so travel enthusiasts can explore the island, like the sheep.

Meanwhile, the island is home to 80,000 sheep and only 49,188 humans. The Guardian mentioned that aside from promoting the island to visitors, the project is also part of an online campaign to help convince google to visit the island and complete the mapping project.

Visit Faroe Islands have launched the petition using the hashtag #wewantgooglestreetview. However, many are still saying that Google Street View might ruin the beauty of the island. "I think that we're ready for this," says Andreassen. "It's a place that has always been so hidden and far away from everything, but I think that we are ready to invite people to the place."

Guardian Travel also contacted Google to ask if they had any plans to map the Faroe Islands. However, they would not comment, but emphasized that anyone is welcome to create their own Street View experiences. Google also said that anyone can apply to borrow their camera equipment.

Also, this is not the first time Google has had an issue involving sheep. Last year the Google Sheep View blog was launched, which collected images of sheep found on Street View to celebrate the year of the sheep.