How to Make Your Own Virtual Reality Tour With Google Street View
Google has done more than any other company to bring virtual reality to the masses, from making cheap Cardboard headsets to providing the general public with easy ways to create and share 360-degree photos . The company is now giving VR fans another way to immerse themselves in the world with a new tool called the Tour Creator .
The service allows you to quickly create and publish VR tours of your favorite locations around the world using Google Street View along with your own 360-degree photos. Here’s what you need to know to get started.
First go to this website and click Get Started. On the next page, click New Tour and give your creation a title, cover photo, and a short description. Finally, select a category (Art, Architecture, Food and Drink, etc.) and click Create.
On the next page, click Add Scene to start creating your virtual tour. A Google Maps pop-up will appear with the option to search for a specific location (you can also go to the Upload tab to use your own images).
Once you find what you like, click Add Scene again (bottom right corner). Then choose a title and write a short description. You can also mention any specific landmarks if your scene is a large area (like a park or a popular street).
When you’re done, just hit Add Scene again and repeat the process until you’ve finished the entire tour. Finally, click Publish (top and center) and decide if you want to make your tour public or keep it private and unlisted. After that, you can share your creation online ( here’s mine ), or even embed it right into your website.
These VR tours can be viewed in your internet browser, but they do appear in a virtual reality headset. Google says you’ll be able to upload your tours to its Expeditions app later this year, but for now, you can check out what other people are creating right here .