Now that we’re at home, bring the great artists to you

Long before video conferencing moved from the boardroom to the family room, art was our common link to each other. It crossed space, time and culture as the purest expression of the human story. Just as we turn the pages of written history to discover what happened; the search for art is the pursuit of what inspires us, what challenges us, and how for thousands of years we’ve discovered a bit of ourselves in each other.

Ten years ago that journey required traveling the world. Now, the treasures of history are a little closer to home. Google Arts & Culture puts the stories and knowledge of over 2,000 cultural institutions from 80 countries in your home. It immerses you in a world of culture through augmented reality, virtual reality, Street View and AI.

New tools recently added to the Google Arts & Culture app allow you to bring the world’s culture into your home, whether you’d like to hang a virtual Van Gogh in your kitchen or experience a classical concert in Beijing's Forbidden City on your couch.

Open up the Google Arts & Culture app and try the following features to get started on your journey:

1. Art Transfer is a new feature that lets you transform your photo or selfie using the style characteristics of works by renowned artists such as Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci or Yayoi Kusama.

2. Which artists were inspired by your favorite colors? With Art Palette, you can select your favorite colors and generate art featuring colors you love, or upload a photo of your living room and get some home decor inspiration for the color palette of your home.

3. With Art Projector you can place actual-size artworks in augmented reality right in front of you, wherever you are. Why not place your favorite masterpieces in your kitchen, office or backyard?

4. Step into a blockbuster exhibition which could never happen in real life. Our latest Pocket Gallery uses Augmented Reality to open a curated virtual space, allowing you to meet Vermeer and see all his artworks for the first time, or step back 36,000 years into some of the oldest cave paintings left behind by our ancestors in the Chauvet Caves.

5. Experience culture in “360-degree video” and encounter a Jurassic giant, explore a Space Shuttle or discover the majestic valley temples of Bagan. Visit via your screen or with a Google Cardboard. 

6. With Street View you can choose your own path to discover cultural institutions,  wonders of the world and places such as the Palace of Versailles, the Taj Mahal or the International Space Station. 

Each of these interactive tools is designed to help bring the treasures of human culture to everyone; but they’re also a way to continue the long journey of human expression—and breathe new life into the old masters. We know where the great artists took human expression in their time--they, as much as anyone, would be interested in seeing where you can take it in ours.

by Eben Carle via The Keyword