Google Shows Prehistoric Animals with AR

In collaboration with institutions such as Moscow's State Darwin Museum and London's Natural History Museum. Google recreated ancient creatures with the help from Augmented Reality (AR).

Prehistoric animals like Cambropachycope, an ancient crustacean with a distinctive pointy head covered in tiny eyes or the oldest large filter feeder, the fish that swims poorly, or the largest animal ever to live on Earth have been brought back to life with the help from AR.

Other exhibits include prehistoric creatures like the Aegirocassis, as well as objects like a pre-Inca statue that dates back to 500 BCE.

Google AR

There are also paintings available to view in augmented reality like a self-portrait from Frida Kahlo, or Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. Once you’ve placed the exhibit into your room, you’re free to film it or take photos using your phone’s camera, according to theverge.com.

As well as museum exhibits, Google has adding augmented reality creatures to its search results. Since Google I/O 2019 the company has made a number of 3D animals available to view, recently expanding its offering to include dinosaurs and insects.

That comes as many museums around the world are starting to open up after the coronavirus pandemic forced them to close. However, in the immediate future, health and safety measures mean that many still aren’t as accessible as they once were.

Google revealed that it was working to provide internet via balloons floating in the stratosphere. Loon is an independent Alphabet company, today announced its first commercial operation in partnership with an internet service provider in Kenya.

This is a first in many ways: the first non-emergency use of Loon to provide connectivity on a large-scale basis, the first application of balloon-powered internet in Africa, and the first of what will be many commercial deployments around the world.

Working with Telkom Kenya after testing last year, Loon is providing internet for a 50,000 square kilometer region that covers the “western and central parts of the country, including the areas of Iten, Eldoret, Baringo, Nakuru, Kakamega, Kisumu, Kisii, Bomet, Kericho, and Narok.

Meanwhile, inpidual balloons can alternate between providing internet connectivity directly and acting as a link in the mesh network. The New York Times notes that they stay up in the air for over 100 days before coming back down to earth.

Loon explained the aim of its balloons isn’t to replace satellite connectivity or ground-based technologies like cell towers or fiber optic cables, but to offer a “third layer” of connectivity to help get more people connected to the internet worldwide.

The company’s balloons have already provided internet connectivity in the wake of disasters, like in Puerto Rico in 2017 after Hurricane Maria or in Peru after an earthquake in 2019, but never as part of a large-scale commercial deployment.