If, like us, you're getting a little bored of the inside of your home, Google's latest solution is perhaps a touch more exciting than moving the furniture around (again). With the help of some AR trickery, you can now turn your living room into Jurassic Park.
Users have been able to see life-sized 3D animals in the real world for a while with with an AR-enabled device and a simple Google search, but last week the search giant added various dinosaurs to the mix. You can now experience a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex stomping around your home (check out our best free 3D models if you're inspired to create a creature of your own).
Created in partnership with Universal Brand Development, the dinosaurs are all taken from the film Jurassic World, and include the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, Triceratops and more. According to a blog post from Google, its artists worked the Jurassic World team to make the assets as accurate and realistic as possible.
More AR animals in Google. Now dinosaurs! 🦖 Just search "T-Rex" in Google Search and click View in 3D. pic.twitter.com/KUCVV9MfqPJuly 1, 2020
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While we've never seen a Dinosaur in the flesh, the 3D models are impressively realistic, and it's both roaring fun and a tiny bit frightening to watch them stalking around your own home. It might not be hugely a hugely useful tool, but it serves as an exciting showcase for AR technology itself. We were already impressed with Google AR, and can't help but wonder what virtual experiences will become possible in the next few years.
Of course, most dinosaurs were a tad larger than your average pet, which presented a new challenge for Google's AR team. The new auto-scale feature automatically detects the distance between your phone and surroundings, and can resize the dinosaur so it fits on your phone screen – in other words, there's a T-rex for everyone.
Just search for the dinosaur and select 'View in 3D' (Image credit: Future)
iOS and Android users can find the dinosaurs by searching 'dinosaurs', or any of the individual dinosaurs on the Google app, Chrome or Safari, and selecting 'View in 3D'. You'll need iOS 11 or above, or Android 7 and above.
Soon you might not even need a phone to welcome new 3D friends into your living room – while AR glasses have failed to take off so far, the latest Apple Glass concept looks unexpectedly exciting. If you want to see the Dinosaurs in all their Jurassic glory right now, check out today's best iPhone deals below.
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Daniel John is Senior News Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of art, design, branding and lifestyle tech (which often translates to tech made by Apple). He joined in 2020 after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more.
