Google has just released 360-degree video of the White House.
Want to go on a virtual tour of the White House decked out in all its Christmas glory? You’re in luck.
Google has released a 360-degree video of the White House that allows outsiders to take a peek at just what it looks like inside one of the most famous buildings in the world, according to an Engadget report.
The technology behind it is quite fascinating: Google has a camera rig known as “Jump,” which has 16 camera modules that are arranged in a circular formation. The setup costs about $15,000 and was designed with input from GoPro.
For the full experience, you’ll need Google Cardboard, and an Android phone, which you would put into the contraption and then place on your head for a virtual reality experience.
If you don’t have that, you can just play it on YouTube and move the phone around manually like a viewfinder.
You can move through the huge rooms and corridors of the building, taking a look at areas like the White House Library, the East Garden Room, the China Room, and the Vermeil Room. It’s just a five-minute tour, but you’re able to look around as a narrator explains the Christmas decorations inside.
A Google Jump rig can shoot 2.7K video in 4:3 aspect ratio. The company has optimized both the size of the rig and its arrangment in order to work with the Jump assembler, which is advanced computer vision that enables the 16 pieces of video to stitched into one seamless stereoscopic VR video.
Using this technology, Google Jump can assemble 360-degree videos that allow you to fully take in a scene rather than just view one particular camera angle. It combines that experience with stereo so that you get a better sense of distance of objects in the video.
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