Google has taken the liberty of giving the public an overview of the White House via a Cardboard White House tour that uses the company's VR camera rig.
Now available through Google's Expedition program and the White House's YouTube channel, the 360-degree White House tour boasts unbelievably impressive Christmas trees and ornaments, extravagant rooms and corridors of the White House's East Colonnade, East Garden Room, Library, and even its Vermeil and China Room.
A narrator guides viewers through each nook and cranny during the five-minute White House tour, giving viewers the opportunity to kick back and relax as compared to a physical tour.
Engadget reported that to create the experience, Google used its Jump rigs, which were co-designed by GoPro and comprise 16 cameras positioned in a circular formation.
Priced at a staggering $15,000, buying the contraption reportedly comes with access to Google's "assembler" software, which seamlessly puts together all footage taken by the cameras, creating a 360-degree video as a final product.
According to The Verge, educational program "Google Expeditions," as well as Google's 16-camera VR video setup "Jump," has stayed out of the spotlight since its September launch. It reportedly provides educational institutions with smartphones and Google Cardboard VR viewers.
Fortunately, the technologies have now re-emerged. Last month, the first official videos made their appearances. Now, both Google Expeditions and Jump were combined with Google's White House holiday tour.
Similar to the other VR videos offered via YouTube, the White House holiday tour can be viewed via any flatscreen device, with viewers allowed to click and drag on each shot as opposed to looking through a headset. However, the White House holiday tour is best enjoyed through Google's Cardboard or any similar mobile headset. The experience also requires an Android device, which isn't a problem, as most people have Android nowadays. The Android device is needed since the experience needs support for VR on iOS, and YouTube doesn't have it.
To enjoy the best White House 3D holiday tour, one needs to pop his or her Android phone into a Google Cardboard, or play the video on YouTube while panning around using an iPhone or iPad.
A Google Expedition version of the tour for Cardboard-equipped groups has also been made by Google in order for instructors to tour the building while highlighting interesting points.
While Google's VR White House tour sounds exciting, as noted by The Verge, the video doesn't look as good on high resolution, especially when compared to a similar creation, a documentary to be exact, that The New York Times produced with Vrse. However, the panorama version is the real takeaway because of Jump's stitching software.
Check out Google's VR Holiday Tour of the White House below.
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