Author Archives: Mike Podwal

Google Earth VR — Bringing the whole wide world to virtual reality

The world has so many beautiful and amazing places to visit. If we're lucky, we're able to travel and see a few of them. But even the most active travelers can only see a fraction. What if we could see them all?

Ten years ago, Google Earth began as an effort to help people everywhere explore our planet. And now, with more than two billion downloads, many have. Today, we are introducing Google Earth VR as our next step to help the world see the world. With Earth VR, you can fly over a city, stand at the top of the highest peaks, and even soar into space.

Now, at 196.9 million square miles, we know the world is pretty big, so we’ve made it easy to find great places to visit. Earth VR comes with cinematic tours and hand-picked destinations that send you to the Amazon River, the Manhattan skyline, the Grand Canyon, the Swiss Alps, and more.

Google Earth - Flying
Flying in Earth VR

You can download Google Earth VR today in the Steam Store for free. Like Tilt Brush, Earth VR is launching first on the HTC Vive. Stay tuned for more updates on Google Earth across other platforms next year.