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Google has partnered with the British Museum to make thousands of artefacts more accessible by introducing the firm’s Street View technology inside the museum’s exhibition rooms.
The Google Cultural Institute has used indoor mapping to create a virtual version of the museum and its permanent exhibits, that can be toured by anyone from their computer. It includes detailed, high resolution images of more than 4,500 objects.
The British Museum is the largest space ever to be captured using indoor Street View, Google’s image-based map traditionally used for road and urban layouts around the world. Specially curated virtual exhibits have also been created as part of the partnership.
Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, said: “The world today has changed, the way we access information has been revolutionised by digital technology. This enables us to gives the enlightenment ideal on which the museum was founded a new reality.
“It is now possible to make our collection accessible, explorable and enjoyable not just for those who physically visit, but to everybody with a computer or a mobile device. And this isn’t just about putting the collection ‘online’.
“Through our partnership with Google, we hope to give people new ways to experience and enjoy the museum, new ways to learn, and new ways to teach.”
As part of the photographing of artefacts, Google used a technology called gigapixel which captures more detailed images and enables a high level of zoom for examining objects.
The director of the technology firm’s Cultural Institute, Amit Sood, said: “We’re extremely proud to support the British Museum in their mission to be a museum of the world, for the world, through technology.
“It’s an incredible thought that now anyone, anywhere can experience the riches of their expertly curated collection, which is probably the most comprehensive survey of the material culture of humanity in existence.”
The Google home page has added a link to the new experience to mark its launch.
