Yup, Google is now using camels to virtually map out the Arabian desert

We’ve all seen the cars with those massive Google stickers tapped to the door and a 360-degree camera on the roof, right? They’ve captured interactive panoramic images of most things, from Russia’s Catherine Palace to Table Mountain in South Africa.

Now, the initiative to virtually map the entire world has gone so far as to include the Arabian desert. How does it do this? By strapping cameras onto the humpy backs of camels, of course.

The Liwa Desert in the United Arab Emirates is said to be one of the word’s most cherished landscapes and one of the oldest as well, dating as far back as the Stone Age. The camels have also enabled the mapping of the famous Liwa Oasis:

Yes this initiative is probably more friendly for the environment, as Google didn’t opt for an army of range rovers and desert trucks, but how do the camels feel having a Trekker strapped to its body? Additionally, aren’t desert sand dunes in constant flux due to forces like the wind acting upon them?

We’re still waiting on our virtual dolphin tours of the South Pacific, Google.