It’s a hot sweltering Tuesday afternoon in Haji Lane, a narrow street in Singapore known for its designer boutiques, shisha cafes, and quirky shops. A sprinkling of fashionistas breeze in and out of the shops in search of the next outfit they can’t live without. The wide-eyed tourists are taking it all in: the mosque, the refreshing mint tea, and the plethora of Persian rugs for sale.

As life goes on in this cramped back lane, the Google Trike leisurely rolls by. Wait a minute – the Google what? The Google Street View Trike – a mechanical vehicle comprising three bicycle wheels, a mounted street view camera and a box much like an ice cream man’s cooler for popsicles. But this is no ordinary cart.

The camera has several lenses aimed at different directions to simultaneously capture images of the street. These pictures are then stored on image-collecting hardware. The images are later processed and stitched together to create maps. Google then blurs the images of faces and license plates on the finalised maps to protect people’s privacy. The whole process takes several months.

Launched in May 2007, Street View (a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth) provides 360-degree horizontal and 290-degree vertical panoramic views from a row of positions on the street. Street View has street-level imagery for cities, towns, and parks from more than 100 metropolitan areas around the world.

Trotting Out the Trike

Zerus Lin, a 27-year-old Singapore cyclist dressed in shorts, a bright-red Google shirt, and a Google helmet, operates this mapping contraption. A couple of tourists approach him, ask a few questions, and snap a souvenir photo. Shoppers pull out their cameras, asking Lin what it is. The accommodating cyclist gamely poses for photos. Two weeks into the job, he’s thoroughly enjoying the stint with Google.

His task is no easy feat. The Street View Trike weighs over 130 kilograms, requiring much muscle power to make it move forward. But the former IT specialist, once stuck working in an office all day, prefers his new outdoor work environment. Google brought the Street View Trike to Singapore almost a year ago to take photos along public roads. Now, the Street View Trike will gather images of public areas not accessible to cars, as well as private areas where permission has been granted by owners. Lin has already covered the pedestrian-only areas of Holland Village, Chinatown and Haji Lane.

Google also teamed up with the Singapore Tourism Board to conduct an online poll where Singaporeans suggest areas they’d like the Trike to cover during its stay in the Lion City.

Google’s senior mechanical engineer Dan Ratner dreamed up the Street View Trike during a trip to Barcelona, Spain. Ratner caught a taxi to his hotel. The cab driver dropped him off before his destination, saying he couldn’t drive through the narrow alleys leading to the hotel.