Too sandy for cars: Google sends camera-equipped CAMEL across the desert for Street View project

This is the first time that Google sent a camera-equipped camel across the desert to capture Street View images.

17:26 09 October 2014

Google has decided to send a camera-equipped camel across the desert to capture Street View images, marking the first time that the search engine company has utilised animal transportation to send its camera around.

A 10-year-old camel named Raffia helped in creating panoramic shots around the Liwa Oasis in Abu Dhabi.

Middle East spokesman Joyce Baz said: "With every environment and every location, we try to customise the capture and how we do it for that part of the environment.

"In the case of Liwa we fashioned it in a way so that it goes on a camel so that it can capture imagery in the best, most authentic and least damaging way."

A local guide walked the camel in the early hours of the morning - a time of good visibility and lack of tourist traffic. The photos captured were then digitally stitched together to create a virtual world which users can travel through with the click of the mouse or a push of their touchscreen.