Travel Around the World With Google Earth VR

Image credit: VEEAARR

Being a travel freak, since childhood, I have been lucky enough to travel to various destinations of my choice and explore several adventurous and beautiful places around the globe. However, there are still a lot of destinations on this beautiful planet that have remained unchecked off my bucket list. Although I might not be able to visit each of my dream destinations in person anytime soon, Google Earth VR gives me the opportunity to visit most of my dream and exotic destinations with real-life experiences.

The beauty of Google Earth VR

Google, the pioneer of satellite mapping and GPS tracking technology, has also under its crown the Google Earth feature that gives you an aerial 3D view of any place on this planet. Taking the advantage of VR tech’s ability to produce rich and immersive content, Google has launched the new Google Earth VR feature that lets you travel to any place of your choice on the earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCrkZOx5Q1M

By being on the driving seat of a virtual aerial flight, you can travel to your favorite places, and even have a closer look in 360 degrees to few of the most famous buildings and historical monuments. As shown in the above video, just by putting your VR headset and initialising the Google Earth feature, you can select/type the location of your choice using the virtual keyboard. Once done, Google Earth VR will take you there giving you a stunning view in 360 degrees – giving you a rich, immersive and real-life experience.

Image credit: Daily Mail UK

From traveling to the historic Colosseum in Rome to the alps of Switzerland and visiting the Rio De Janeiro Statue in Brazil, Google Earth VR will give you an unmatched experience of traveling in the VR Space. While evolving the experience further, Google has recently added 27 handpicked locations which include the Table Mountains in South Africa, the Perito Moreno Glacier (Glaciar Perito Moreno) in Argentina and even Neuschwanstein Castle (the inspiration for the castle in Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty”).

Image credit: Steam

Product manager of Google Earth, Joanna Kim, wrote in a blog post, “People want to quickly find and revisit the places that mean the most to them, whether it’s a childhood home or favorite vacation spot. Now, users can type an address or the name of a location, and visit it in 3D with a 3D headset system.”

Google Earth VR comes to Oculus Rift

During the launch of Google Earth VR, at the end of 2016, initially, the feature was only available on the HTC Vive users. However, to cater to a wider audience, Google has recently released this feature for the Rift users where you will be navigating to several earth destinations by using the Touch Controllers.

Once you are in the Google Earth VR space, you can zoom to any place on the earth using your right-hand controller. Here you can switch from the bird’s view to the 3D view and capture stunning immersive content.

You can also browse through the featured content and some cinematic tours of few selected areas by using the navigation keys on your left-hand controller. One of the most exotic features of the Google Earth VR is the ability to control the sun brightness. Search for the light source, select it and move it over the horizon to mask the earth with darkness. By doing this, you will soon see the sky lighting up with the Milky Way.

So, Rift users, what are you just waiting for? Put on your Rift headsets and get the experience absolutely for free at the Oculus Store. Let me know about your experience by sharing!