Google Earth VR Maps & Exploration


VR Review  ★★★★★‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
PCVR  Quest Link  Free  Education  Travel  Comfortable  Stationary 

The image displays a view of Earth from space with a focus on the curvature of the planet against the backdrop of space. The text “Google Earth VR” is prominently featured in white letters against the dark background of space.

Google Earth in virtual reality is an essential experience for anyone with a degree of curiosity. Spin the planet like it's your own personal giant blue marble, then dive into any destination of your choice. Visit famous landmarks, fly through the Grand Canyon or see your own backyard from an entirely unique perspective. You can even point your controller at the sky and move the sun.

Begin with the tutorial which whisks you around the world to view various landmarks before giving you an introduction to the straightforward controls. The app provides a comfort vignette that limits your field of view when moving to help avoid nausea, but this can be disabled once you have your VR sea-legs.

Some areas are highly detailed with high resolution imagery and intricate 3D modeling, whereas others are merely aerial images stretched over approximate terrain maps. Photogrammetry can also create strange artifacts and make trees look like stalks of broccoli. Regardless, the ability to visit almost any place on Earth in a matter of seconds is a wonder, and one that can consume hours of your time and widen your horizons.

The image shows an aerial view of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, with its large dome and surrounding structures prominently displayed. The surrounding area includes parts of the city with various buildings, roads, and patches of greenery.
Visiting St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City

Google Earth VR also includes the Street View feature – allowing you to navigate around roads, trails as if your feet were firmly planted on the ground. Don't miss this extra dimension to the app. For example, we love taking virtual city tours by pairing the Street View experience with the free Rick Steves Audio Europe Travel App.

Regrettably, Google Earth VR is only available for those who can hook up their headset to a remotely powerful computer and is not available for the Meta Quest. In fact Google Earth VR is an app from 2016, created and since abandoned by the search engine monolith which then mothballed its VR departments a couple of years later. Despite this the program still works perfectly since it relies on mapping data and imagery that underpins their other mapping products.

Meta Quest users aren't entirely out of luck however. See our reviews of AnyWR, Wander and Wooorld for alternatives that offer some similar functionality.

The image shows an aerial view of a theme park, specifically Six Flags Great Adventure located on Six Flags Boulevard in Jackson Township NJ. The most prominent feature is a large green roller coaster structure towering over the surrounding trees and park infrastructure.
Google Earth includes 3D models of all kinds.

Summary:
An essential experience with a unique perspective
Almost limitless content
Simple and intuitive controls
Some areas of the world feature limited detail
Not available for Meta Quest due to performance requirements

Supported Languages:
English 

External Links:
YouTube:Trailer

Product Links:

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© 2024 Copyright Stuart Green all rights reserved. Content provided without warranty of accuracy. Reproduction requires explicit consent. Some copyrighted images used under fair use doctrine for review purposes.  XX