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Google Earth VR

vr.google.com

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Re: Google Earth VR

#31

Post by secure »

I played this for about 2 hours recently, and it’s so much fun!

Flying around like that really gives you a perspective of your home town that you don’t usually get. For instance, I have discovered that there’s actually train tracks underneath a bridge over which I drive fairly frequently — from inside the tram, I never saw them.

Notably, this is significantly better than the “liquid galaxy” installations one can find at Google offices. It’s smoother, more immersive, the controls are more appealing, and it looks better.

This app definitely goes into the list of things I show people who are new to VR :).

Re: Google Earth VR

#32

Post by baobrain »

mdrzn wrote: post #5

Why only on HTC Vive? Does this require huge computing power, or is it because of the controllers? I hope it'll become available on the Google Daydream phones.

I'm confused about this as well - this could be a great application for "casual" vr like daydream.

Re: Google Earth VR

#34

Post by thearn4 »

rubicon33 wrote: post #28

Of course. Only available on the HTC Vive. I regret my oculus rift purchase.

FWIW, I use both and vastly prefer most things on the rift (especially flight and driving sims).

The room-scale experiences on the Vive are fantastic and definitely the direction this tech will go, but the majority of the SteamVR experience are... unpolished? That's the best way i can describe it. SteamVR itself is also extremely buggy, but I've also had USB 3.0 issues on the Rift, so there are some issues on both platforms.

But flight sims feel extremely natural (DCS World and Elite:Dangerous in particular), especially with Rift's ASW.

Re: Google Earth VR

#35

Post by thearn4 »

toephu2 wrote: post #21

Seems like one of those things I'll play with for about 30 minutes, think it's cool, and then never touch it again.

To be honest that's true for about 90% of VR demos/experiences that have been released...

Re: Google Earth VR

#36

Post by aianus »

derrickdirge wrote: post #24
strictnein wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the downvote? How visiting forbidden places isn't on the top of mind for people using this is beyond me. Area 51, White House grounds, Russian military bases, Syria. I know the experience will vary, but think big.

I thought Mecca was like, the opposite of a forbidden place.

It's forbidden to go within 15km of Mecca if you're not Muslim.

Re: Google Earth VR

#38

Post by elevensies »

billconan wrote: post #10

Is this based on 3D model or just 360 photo? I looked at the online demo, it doesn't appear to be 3D model. But if it is based on 360 photos, how does it perform the transition between different viewing locations? Streetmap, for example, can't do very smooth transition.

It looks like 3D models.

You can see the models through google maps on the normal web interface. If you go to a city, zoom in so your screen is a few blocks across and select "3D" view from the lower right corner. It should load 3D models of the buildings. Then if you hold Control which clicking and dragging, you should be able to freely rotate your view around the map's center point and see the buildings from any angle.

EDIT: and I should mention, it works all over the place, not just cities, i.e.: https://www.google.ca/maps/@41.0775591,-71.9351097,67a,20y,2...

Re: Google Earth VR

#39

Post by matthjensen »

secure wrote: post #31

I played this for about 2 hours recently, and it’s so much fun! Flying around like that really gives you a perspective of your home town that you don’t usually get. For instance, I have discovered that there’s actually train tracks underneath a bridge over which I drive fairly frequently — from inside the tram, I never saw them. Notably, this is significantly better than the “liquid galaxy” installations one can find…

What else is on the list of things you show people who are new to VR?

Re: Google Earth VR

#40

Post by dag11 »

mdrzn wrote: post #5

Why only on HTC Vive? Does this require huge computing power, or is it because of the controllers? I hope it'll become available on the Google Daydream phones.

They had to do a crazy amount of optimization just to the Earth engine to make it work in 90fps VR.

Here's a talk one of the devs gave at SIGGRAPH a few months ago about how they made it work: https://vimeo.com/177549565

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