Google Tour Builder
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Virtual and augmented reality are becoming popular approaches for teachers to deliver content, in an engaging and experiential way. Students can use whatever devices they have to step into spaces and places that were previously inaccessible.
Here’s your VR/AR cheat sheet:
Virtual Reality:
Transposes the user (through the use of goggles or visor) to another place.
The experience is more dramatic, giving the user a sense of movement within the virtual environment.
Requires the use of a headset such as Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, or Google Cardboard.
Think: swimming with sharks.
Augmented Reality:
Augments the current state of reality, but does not “move” the user elsewhere
Provides more freedom to the user, as the experience is less dramatic
Accessible on any device connected to the web (smartphones, iPads, Chromebooks, computers).
Think: watching sharks swim at an aquarium.
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Google Tour Builder, a more recent virtual reality project, uses Google’s famous map technology to help users create interactive virtual tours, that include locations, images, videos, descriptions, hyperlinks, and more.
Explore the Google Tour Builder Library, an extensive collection of tours created by Google users. Each tour includes 360 views enhanced with photos and written content. Here are a few great teacher-created examples for inspiration:
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