Google’s biggest consumer-facing augmented reality offerings today are Lens and Live View in Maps. At WWDC 2021, Apple announced it was planning to go after those two features with iOS 15 this fall.
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Google at I/O 2021 touted that it’s the only mapping platform with AR navigation. Building on that lead, Google Live View can soon be accessed without needing to get directions and just be used to explore the world with augmented reality.
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Over the past few years, Google Search has added 3D models for various animals, dinosaurs, insects, planets, and other education items. Google is now introducing AR Pac-Man, 3D Hello Kitty, and Gundam with 14 iconic Japanese characters in total.Â
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Google has announced that Maps will now offer indoor AR directions and can even favor eco-friendly navigation when pointing you from location to location.
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From Maps Live View to 3D Animals and other models in Search, Google’s current work in augmented reality is focused on phones. The other big investment is Google Lens, with it emerging today that the product is losing lead Aparna Chennapragada to Robinhood.
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The Mandalorian remains a big hit half-way through its sophomore season. Google has partnered with Lucasfilm on a free Android app to bring iconic and realistic moments to life using AR and 5G.
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Back in October, Google officially dropped support for its virtual reality platform with Android 11. Daydream is no longer receiving updates, and now can no longer access the Google Play Store or other VR discovery features.
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Augmented reality glasses will fundamentally change how we use technology and our relationship to the internet. Facebook is vocal about its general plans, and Microsoft has HoloLens for enterprise, while the rumors around Apple’s offering is at an all-time high. On the hardware front, Google speculation is notably absent. The lack of AR glasses rumors is not yet disconcerting due to Google’s software work and acquisitions, but it could get so soon.
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In the early days of VR, Tilt Brush was widely regarded as a premier application that helped sell the platform’s immersiveness. Google acquired the painting app in 2015 amid their big, multi-pronged push into the space. Tilt Brush is no longer being actively developed, and Google announced today that it’s now open sourced.
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One highlight of this year has been the immense popularity of AR creatures from Google that helps replicate the great outdoors inside. Google Search has now added 50 new 3D animals in the biggest drop yet.
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Almost every tech company was invested in virtual reality five years ago and saw it as the future. One Google effort was to use VR as a means to let students go on virtual field trips. Expeditions is now being folded into the Google Arts & Culture app as the dedicated experience shuts down next year.
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The initial Live View concept that Google demoed at I/O 2018 saw the Maps application mark and overlay information over the real world. It was a more full-featured AR experience that was not limited to walking directions. Now two years old, Google is getting ready to fulfill that original vision.
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Google last year previewed persistent Cloud Anchors that can be tied to a specific location and lets information be permanently overlaid over the real world. With ARCore 1.20, it’s officially launching with a number of apps already taking advantage. Meanwhile, Google today showed off Earth Cloud Anchors.
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At last year’s hardware event, Google stopped selling the Daydream View, while many apps dropped support long before that. Google announced today that “Daydream VR software is no longer supported” and that it ended with Android 11.
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Google Maps Live View uses augmented reality to overlay arrows, directions, and now landmarks over the real world to make navigating easier. The feature is getting a number of big updates today.
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The launch of Android 11 coincides with the quarterly Pixel Feature Drop. In addition to the general platform release, Google’s first-party devices pick up some exclusive features, with the most notable being Live View Location Sharing in Google Maps.
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For the past several weeks, we’ve been tracking a math solver for Google’s visual search tool. Today, the Google Lens “Homework” filter was officially detailed and it covers more than just equations.
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We’re well into August, which means the school year is growing ever closer to beginning while many of us are still stuck at home. To help us learn chemistry, Google Search has added a variety of new 3D models showing how certain molecules are formed.
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Back in December, Google previewed how it could create a depth map for augmented reality using a single camera. The ARCore Depth API is now publicly launching on Android with several third-party apps already taking advantage of the technology.
In November, Google Cardboard was open-sourced as the company stopped active development on the affordable, smartphone-based VR platform. As promised, Google today released the Cardboard Unity SDK to continue letting the community develop with the platform.
In recent weeks, people have turned to virtual animals in Google Search to experience the outside world indoors. Google today is adding a 3D skeleton and other models, while revamping the AR viewer on Android.
Even before stay at home orders, AR objects in Google Search were already a fun way to bring the outside world indoors. A new feature rolling out to Android today lets you easily record Google 3D animals.
Many today are looking for ways to stay entertained at home as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. In recent days, more and more people are discovering Google 3D animals in Search, with the company this evening releasing an ad highlighting the viral social media hit.
When Google announced a ton of new 3D animals, planets, objects and more coming to Search at I/O 2019, little did we know just how useful they would become due to a global pandemic.
