Google has announced their new AR experience that would make prehistoric creatures and ancient artifacts available to view in augmented reality. The tech giant declared that the experience can be accessed from the Art and Culture app in Google Play Store. According to the announcement, the new AR experience will make it possible to see prehistoric creatures like Cambropachycope, an ancient crustacean roaming freely in your living room. If you are not that into bugs or animals, you will still have the option to view some remarkable artifacts such as Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit or the Command Module of the Apollo 11 without leaving your couch.
Many museums around the world are opening their doors after a brief pause due to the COVID-19 lockdown. However, strict safety and health measures are still enforced in the larger part of the country to avoid further crises. This means that despite the facilities opening up, many of them are still not accessible as they used to be. Under such circumstances, augmented reality is here to fill in the gap.
Prominent institutes and museums
In a statement released marking the launch of the app, Google spokespersons stated that the venture has been realized by collaborating with prominent institutes and museums around the world, for example, London’s Natural History Museum and State Darwin Museum of Moscow. Partnering up with them, Google has brought a menagerie of ancient creatures and historic artifacts back to digital life.
The exhibits, other than the mighty Cambropachycope, include an Aegirocassis, a prehistoric genus of anomalocarid arthropod that has gone extinct years ago, a 25.2 meters long skeleton of a blue whale, pre-Inca busts and statues that date back to around 500 BCE, and even self-portraits of Frida Kahlo. With the help of augmented reality, users can view them up close through their smartphones by accessing the Art and Culture app. What’s more, once the artifacts or exhibits are placed into the room, users can take photos or record them freely with their phone camera.
Art and Culture app
Google’s Art and Culture app is best known for its huge collection of art history features. Over time, it has upgraded the collection with a twist of artificial intelligence (AI). For example, they made available a photo filter that could edit users’ photos mimicking the styles of some famous painters or a feature that would match users’ selfies against renowned portraits. To their list of such amazing features, Google has also added a host of 3D animals and creatures to be viewed. As they expand the list to include insects and dinosaurs, they have ramped up the experience further by adding the touch of AR into the experience.
Hardware support
Google is yet to mention what hardware support is required to access these AR exhibits. But the previous AR offerings needed ARCore-supported Android or iOS devices. Therefore, it is generally understood that the recent AR feature in the Google Art and Culture app would run on iPhone or iPad supporting iOS 11 or up and similar Android device.