Google Brings ‘Pocket Gallery’ To Web So Everyone Can Access Art In The Browser
Image via Google
The ‘Pocket Gallery’ was first launched in 2018 by Google’s Arts & Culture department, inviting users to “visit” galleries in augmented reality through their smartphones and view artwork.
This includes pieces that aren’t usually accessible by the public, even in real life, or exhibitions that are “impossible” to put on. For example, all of Vermeer’s artworks were united in one for the first time thanks to this technology.
Now, the team is announcing the expansion of the Pocket Gallery to the web. This means that even without an AR-capable smartphone, patrons will be able to pay a 3D visit to galleries worldwide just through their desktop.
Image via Google
“Simply open your favorite browser to discover all our Pocket Galleries in 3D,” Google writes. “Take an art tour of the world in sound, go spelunking among some of the oldest paintings known to man at Chauvet Cave, marvel at miniatures scenes from ancient India, or discover the man of contradictions in Klimt vs. Klimt.”
Image via Google
In each gallery, the pieces hoisted on the wall can be reached through navigating the space via arrows, sort of like traversing street view in Google Maps. Clicking on an artwork will bring up information about the piece and artist behind it.
Image via Google
And now, users can get even more up close and personal with the works, zooming in to minute details down to the very brushstrokes of the piece without leaning dangerously close to the painting and having a worried security guard come marching over.
Alongside the web expansion, Google is also partnering with the Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais (Rmn-GP) in France to bring a new exhibition to life. This will explore “maritime tales, stormy landscapes, and shores swathed in light” in the form of 40 thematic works, collected from the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre, among famed European museums, through a detailed guided tour.
Image via Google
Pocket Galleries is available on the Google Arts & Culture website, as well as part of the Arts & Culture app on both iOS and Android.
[via TechCrunch, images via Google]
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