Why not hook up your rowing machine and practice rowing your favorite river from the comfort of your exercise room? That’s what these guys did. They wrote an application to interface between a Concept II PM3 (see picture) using a USB cable and Google Earth so you can then row yourself down the river.
This is a great concept, but could use some more innovation to make it more practical. Right now it apparently just shows a view of the river as you row yourself along. You could show a boat icon with your position, show your track, put up your current speed and distance to finish, etc. In fact, you could use the new time features in GE 4 to show animations of your previous runs. This tool enables you to do familiarization with a new river before you even get there in person (the same way I use GE or a flight simulator for familiarization before I fly to a new airport). Of course, you could also do fun things like row the Grand Canyon, go down 5th avenue in NYC, or do the Pacific Ocean! 🙂 via OgleEarth.
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.
I have some friends who have rowing machines & they said you can’t beat the workout that you get from the machines ..