Google is making its platform available for museums to help them showcase their exhibits to smartphone users. Museums will be able to use YouTube and Street View to showcase their exhibits to anyone with a smartphone.
Google Cultural Institute has partnered with museums worldwide for the project. 11 museums and cultural institutions have participated in this pilot project to date and their apps are now live on Google Play.
Some of the early adopters of this new software platform are museums and institutions in France, Italy, Netherlands and Nigeria, including the Museum of Arts et Métiers, Musee Curie, Museum of Le Havre and Rijksmuseum van Oudheden to name a few.
Museums will be able to use Google’s “indoor” Street View technology to offer 360 degree tours though their apps. The apps will show exhibit photos and audio tours, and will come with social-sharing features that let visitors post what they’re viewing in a museum on Facebook, Google+ as well as via email with their friends. The apps are also available offline for users who are travelling abroad and don’t have an internet connection.
Google Cultural Institute has earlier digitised the Dead Sea Scrolls, Art Project to bring museums online and have documented the World Wonders in Street View and 3D. Last year Google launched a 360 degree online view of Indian monuments in partnership with Archaeological Survey of India. The project is aimed to create a panoramic imagery of the "nationally important" monuments including the Taj Mahal, Humayun's Tomb, Khajuraho, Qutub Minar, Red Fort and Agra Fort, etc.
Source: Google Cultural Institute