One of our latest #ThrowBrandThursday columns was Typed With Pride. And we gladly supported the LGBTQ community in our own way, with a short, colored article. Now, the current #TBT story gets to be typed with voices. Yes, that’s right. You’re probably wondering how this can be possible. Just wait a bit and you’ll see how your voice can take you to places you have never been.
We’re going to use our voices to show you how all of this works. Meanwhile, you can use your own to write your personal magical story. Just think of it as your ticket to traveling for free around the globe and virtually exploring the best-kept treasures.
To start your virtual journey, you have to grab a VR headset, put it on, an allow Google’s Speak to Go app do its job. Once you equip the tools you need to safely travel around the world, all you need to do is to just say your voice command by stating where you would like to go. Yes, it’s as simple as that!
Simply name a city, a country, or a popular tourist attraction and Google will take care of it all. If you have no idea on where to go next, then you can let Google surprise you. Say “I’m feeling lucky” and the search engine will look for new destinations, so you can explore further and further! Your adventure might even get more impressive when you use a Google Cardboard headset with your mobile. So, put your VR glasses on, place your command, and immerse yourself in a one-of-a-kind experience.
If you don’t have VR glasses at hand, don’t despair because the app works on desktop too. To start your journey, you first have to enable the microphone in Google Chrome. After that, just press the spacebar and tell Google where it should drop you next. Although it is not as impressive as the experience you get with a headset, it’s still a nice way to explore the world’s most beautiful places without leaving the comfort of your home.
The virtual adventure was developed by Google Creative Lab and combines WebVR, Google Maps API, Web Speech API, and Google Cardboard with a phone’s microphone and gyroscope to get the best result.
“To create Speak to Go we mixed WebVR with the Web Speech API – allowing your device to recognize what you say – and 360° imagery from around the globe so you can go almost anywhere in the world instantly,” said the team behind the project on its new WebVR Experiments page.
Google definitely felt lucky with this project, because it scooped a Wood Pencil at the D&AD Awards 2018. How about you? Do you feel lucky? You don’t? Then you can start by first checking out where the red fridge had traveled by now! Let us know if you can virtually track its feet: