Five years ago, I came across the story of a man who had found his way home using Google Earth, or at least that was the headline. As a five year old, Saroo Brierley had become separated from his family as a five year old, and ended up being adopted by an Australian couple after travelling across country by train. He was determined to find his way home, and through the use of Google Earth, and his memories, he was able to trace his steps back to the village in India where his family still lived. He'd remembered enough images and landmarks to navigate his way to his home village despite there being so many other similar villages. I blogged about the story, and used it to show the power of Google Earth in some CPD sessions that I ran at the time...The story has now been made into a film starring Dev Patel, who rose to fame with 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
The film makers worked with Google Earth to ensure the accuracy of the visuals.
There's also a feaurette here, which includes some information on how Saroo used Google Earth to locate his family.
From the descriptions in the interviews, it seems that Saroo had a similar mind-expanding experience when he first downloaded Google Earth as many geographers did - he could see the potential for solving a problem he had had all his life... we could see the potential for opening students' minds to the wonder of the earth. Visit Saroo's site to see some additional videos, including the one that first introduced me to the story.
