Google's Expeditions Pioneer Program is helping students take 3D virtual reality (VR) tours to many places around the world, and the company just added Australia's Great Barrier Reef and London's Buckingham Palace. The tour of the world's biggest coral reef system includes images of clown fish and other sea creatures in the tropical waters, while the tour of the royal family's home includes a 360-degree YouTube video featuring images and facts.
Expeditions already allows students to take virtual field trips to many distant places. They include the Great Wall of China and Mars.
Google has teamed up with the Royal Collection Trust to create the VR tour of Buckingham Palace. Its 360-degree YouTube video gives anyone with a mobile phone or Web browser the chance to take a private tour of the Queen's art collection, according to Engadget.
Meanwhile, the 3D video featuring the Great Barrier Reef was produced by Sir David Attenborough and Alchemy VR. Attenborough is a broadcaster and naturalist.
In a statement Attenborough shared that he has been to the Australian reef twice, according to PC Mag. Expeditions gives people the ability to explore the ecosystems through VR.
On January 21,Thursday the search giant is also rolling out the beta version of its Google Expeditions app for certain schools. The app can also be downloaded on Android smartphones and tablets for school classes.
Participating schools can then inform Google if the mobile app has any bugs, or suggest new features to add. Teachers can learn about the places their students can take a virtual tour by visiting the Pioneer Program page.
The Expeditions Pioneer Program is now visiting schools and organizations in the United States, Canada, and Sweden. It will add other regions during this school year.
Google's educational program was launched last September after introducing the VR kit at its I/O developers conference last year. Since then over half a million students have tried it.
Schools that sign up for the program are visited by Google's Expeditions team. They receive a VR kit and instructions about how to use it.
The Expeditions program features Google's Cardboard VR headsets. Each VR kit includes synched Cardboard viewers and smartphones, and a tablet for the teacher.