Google is launching a brand new Android and iOS app this week, and it features some pretty intriguing support for 360 degree video.
The search engine giant has revealed and released Google Arts & Culture, a free download that practically opens the virtual doors to over 850 museums, archives and organizations from across the globe. It’s an art browsing app that lets you look through iconic works, searching through its immense database via timelines and even different colors. Information about and the stories behind different pieces are included, and you can of course share your favorite works with friends. The trailer below gives you a good glimpse of what it’s all about.
But that’s not all; the app also supports the Google Cardboard DIY VR headset. Using the low-end device you can take 360 degree tours of some of the featured museums, heritage sites, and landmarks. You can even treat yourself to first-class seats of special performances like the one seen in the trailer above. The app doesn’t appear to have any truly VR features, but it’s a great way to incorporate Google Cardboard all the same.
Going forward, we’d like to see the Arts & Culture app actually start to offer users full virtual museums to explore, similar to what can be found with the Woofbert VR app on Gear VR. That could be a great way to update it for the upcoming Google Daydream platform, which is expected to launch later on in the year and offer a much more unified Android VR experience.
This is far from the only work Google is doing with educational VR. The company also has its Expeditions initiative, which offers schools several Google Cardboard kits that students can use to go on virtual locations, guided by their teacher using an Android device. The low-cost nature of the kit ensures that Google Cardboard will continue to have a future even as Daydream arrives to offer a higher-end alternative.
