Author Archives: Archana Kannan

Shopping for a beauty product? Try it on with Google.

I’ve been doing most of my shopping online this year and it seems I’m not alone. With the holidays right around the corner, more than 73 percent of U.S. shoppers are planning to buy online. There are plenty of perks with online shopping, from the convenience of doing it from your couch to the multitude of options right at your fingertips.

At the same time, many still crave that in-store experience, whether it’s seeing a product up close, trying it on or getting advice from in-store experts. So we’re bringing some of the benefits of in-store shopping to your phone, with new features launching this week in the U.S.

Visualize makeup looks and try on products

If you’re shopping for beauty products, it’s difficult to make a decision on such personal items without trying them on. Say you want to know how sheer a lip gloss is, how much pigment is in an eyeshadow or what a product will look like on your skin tone, it can be difficult to understand these things without seeing the products up close.

To make it easier for you to answer these questions from home, we’re working with data partners ModiFace and Perfect Corp to help you better visualize thousands of lipstick and eyeshadow shades from your favorite brands like L’Oreal, MAC Cosmetics, Black Opal and Charlotte Tilbury. Now, when you search for a lipstick or eyeshadow product, like L’Oreal’s Infallible Paints Metallic Eyeshadow, you can see what it looks like on a range of skin tones and compare shades and textures to help you find the right products.

How you can try on lipstick and eyeshadow

To help you find the perfect match, you can now also virtually try makeup products right from the Google app. Find the perfect nude lip by searching for MAC Powder Kiss Lipstick and quickly trying each shade in the collection. If you’re looking for a velvety matte lipstick for your holiday video calls with family and friends, search for NARS Powermatte Lip Pigment and find the color that matches your style.

Get recs from experts and enthusiasts

Sometimes it’s helpful to get recommendations and see how products work for other people. Now as you browse Google Shopping on your phone or scroll through the Discover feed in the Google app, we'll show recommendations from beauty, apparel and home and garden enthusiasts and experts about their favorite products. If a product catches your eye, you can hear directly from experts on why they love the product and how they use it.

Hear from professional makeup artist Jonet on what products can help you achieve that dewy fresh look or learn how Homesick Candles make the perfect holiday present. Once you’ve found a product you love, you’ll be able to easily shop these recommendations. This new feature comes from work done by the Shoploop team, which was formerly part of Area 120, Google's in-house incubator.

We hope these new shopping tools will make it easier for you to find products you’ll love while shopping from home.

Source: Google Ads & Commerce

Travel back in time with AR dinosaurs in Search

Dinosaurs may have ruled the Earth millions of years ago, but with augmented reality (AR), you can turn your home into “Jurassic World.” We're partnering with Universal Brand Development, Amblin Entertainment and Ludia to bring 10 dinosaurs from the franchise film, “Jurassic World”, to Google Search. Watch the massive T. Rex stomp in your living room or gaze up at a majestic Brachiosaurus as it towers above a neighborhood tree.

Search for a dinosaur on Google using a mobile device and tap “View in 3D” to rotate or zoom in and see it up close. You can then bring the dinosaur into your space with AR and adjust its size to understand how big it is in relation to the things around you. On Android devices, turn up your volume to hear the thudding footsteps and roars of each dinosaur.

“Jurassic World” dinosaurs that are viewable in AR include: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, Triceratops, Spinosaurus, Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Pteranodon, and Parasaurolophus.

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A behind-the-scenes look at how
“Jurassic World” AR dinosaurs are made

Using technology from Ludia’s “Jurassic World Alive” game, these AR dinosaurs are some of the most realistic models out there. Check out this video to see how an AR Brachiosaurus is made, including 3D modeling, texturing and animation.

“To create the 3D dinosaurs, our concept artists first did preliminary research to discover information about each creature,” says Camilo Sanin, Ludia’s Lead on Character Creations. “Not only did we draw research from various forms of literature, our artists also worked with paleontologists and the ‘Jurassic World’ team to make the assets as accurate and realistic as possible. Even the smallest of details, such as irregularities of skin color and patterns, are important.”

Unlike some of Google’s AR animals, like a dog or tiger, dinosaurs pose a new technical challenge: their massive size. The new auto-scale feature on Android can now automatically calculate the distance between your phone and a surface in your space and resize the dinosaur so it fits on your phone screen. If you tap “View actual size,” AR tracking technology automatically repositions the dinosaur in your space to make room for it.

view actual size.gif — New auto-scale feature on Android

How to access and share

On Android, search for “dinosaur” or one of the 10 dinosaurs on the Google app or any Android browser and tap “View in 3D.” You can see 3D content on devices running with Android 7 and above and you can see AR content on ARCore-enabled devices. Easily explore all dinosaurs using the carousel format.

On iOS, search for “dinosaur” or one of the 10 dinosaurs on the Google app or on Google.com with Chrome or Safari. 3D and AR content is available on devices running iOS 11 and above.

You can also create AR videos—or recreate your favorite scenes from the “Jurassic World” movies—with the recording option. Don’t forget to tag your photos and videos on social with #Google3D and #JurassicWorld. Safe traveling (back in time)!

Source: The Official Google Blog

Make at-home learning more fun with 3D and AR in Search

Augmented reality (AR) in Search lets you bring 3D objects and animals into your space so you can turn your living room into a virtual zoo, explore the Apollo 11spacecraft up close, or take a picture with Santa. I love seeing how much fun families are having with this experience at home. AR in Search can also help you discover and explore new concepts. Here are a few new ways you can use AR (and a little imagination) to learn at home.

Take a virtual trip through the human body

It’s one thing to read about the human heart, and another to see one up close to understand how it pumps blood to provide oxygen. We’re partnering with BioDigital so that you can explore 11 human body systems with AR in Search on mobile. Search for circulatory system and tap “View in 3D” to see a heart up close or look up skeletal system to trace the bones in the human body and see how they connect. Read labels on each body part to learn more about it or view life-size images in AR to better understand its scale.

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Get a magnified view of our microscopic world

Seeing is often understanding. But tiny organisms, like cells, are hard to visualize unless you can magnify them to understand what’s inside. We’ve partnered with Visible Bodyto create AR models of animal, plant and bacteria cells, including some of their key organelles. Search for animal cell and zoom into its nucleus to see how it stores DNA or search for mitochondria to learn what’s inside it. With AR, you can bring a 3D cell into your space to rotate it, zoom in and view details about its different components.

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Turn your home into a museum

Many museums may be closed right now, but with Google Arts & Culture and institutions like the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, you can turn your home into one using AR. Search for Apollo 11 on your phone to see its command module in 3D, look up Neil Armstrong to get a life-size view of his spacesuit, or step inside the Chauvet Cave to get an up-close look at some of the world's oldest known cave paintings, which are usually closed off to the public.

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Easily explore, record and share

To help you quickly explore related content, we’re rolling out a new carousel format on Android, as well as a recording option to share social-worthy AR videos with friends and family.

E703_ARSearch_Carousel_Blog_v01_nl (1).gif — Explore content with the carousel format on Android

We hope that you enjoy exploring all of these 3D and AR experiences on Google. Tag us on social with #Google3Dand let us know how you’re using AR to learn and explore new things in your home. We can’t wait to hear where your imagination takes you next!