Ever thought of bringing a Giant Panda or a bear in your living room or in your surroundings? Sounds like a dream, right? But not anymore because Google has made this possible using Augmented Reality in its Search application. The tech giant, in its I/O developer conference in early May, introduced AR and 3D objects to iOS and Android phones that can put virtual animals in the real world but considering you own an ARCore or ARkit-ready smartphone.
According to 9to5Google, the AR trick works for a limited range of animals for now. The company showed 3D model of human muscular system. It’s unclear how many of these 3D models will appear in search but searches for shark, brown bear, giant panda, alligator, penguin, tiger, lion, Shetland pony, pug, racoon and macaw is definitely going to work. The information pops up as a square of info midway through the page, with a launcher that brings up the 3D animated animal or overlays it in AR.
It’s AR of the tiger!
If you’ve got an AR-enabled phone, you can now bring select animals right into your space for a safari (or safe snuggle) with Search. pic.twitter.com/kWpudETgeq— Google (@Google) May 31, 2019Advertisement
When you do a search on any of the above specified animals you’ll see a card that says “Meet a life-sized [animal] up close.” The card also has a “View in your space” button that places an animated version of that animal in the environment you’re in. You can move them around and resize them — they even come with appropriate visual and sound effects. The tiger roars, the dog barks and scratches its ears, the panda chews on a piece of bamboo and the cat licks its paws and cleans itself.
It is rumoured that the company is in talks with organisations like NASA, Samsung and Volvo to create more 3D and AR objects for future. So it won’t be surprising if planets and outer space entities also become a part of this feature. You should definitely checkout this amazing feature in Google Search app and when you do, do tell us your experience in the comment box below.