Art lovers all over the world will definitely love Google’s new discovery tool called the Art Project which allows users to virtually visit and explore museums using Google’s Street View interface.
Google’s Art Project was done in collaboration with some of the world’s most acclaimed art museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain, the National Gallery in London, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France, the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. or the Museum Kampa in Prague, Czech Republic.
Through the Art Project website, users can view “super high resolution images” of famous artworks and do a 360 degree virtual “tour” of the museum halls with Google Street View. Art Project also allows users to select a specific artwork or piece and know more about it by reading the on-screen background information.
Screenshots:
Behind the scenes video of the Street View & high resolution captures for Art Project:
Here’s a Visitor’s Guide to help users familiarize themselves with Art Project:
Here’s a video preview of Google’s Art Project:
Aside from not having to leave your house or worrying about travel expenses, accommodations, etc., another advantage to using Google’s Art Project is that the super high resolution images each contain around 7 billion pixels, allowing the user to study the artwork (brushwork, patina, etc.) closer and view details which are beyond the naked eye.
Aside from viewing high resolution images of the different artworks and the 360 degree Street View tours, users can also save specific views and build their own personalized art collection using the “Create an Artwork Collection” feature. These collections can be shared and receive comments as well.
Right now, Google’s Art Project only covers 17 art museums but they do have plans of expanding their collection and adding more museums in the near future.
The Google Art Project is not only a cool virtual tool that adults can use to spend free time more efficiently but also a very good learning tool that can be used in schools and for kids at home.
Visit Google Art Project
