These Google 3D AR experiences are perfect for back to school learning

One of the cooler, less-often talked about features of the Google app is its ability to deliver up immersive AR (augmented reality) experiences right from a search. We’ve talked a bit about them here before as animals began showing up in the app and bugs were also recently added, but a couple posts on a blog don’t do justice to how amazing these 3D renders are and how far they can go to light up the brains of young students in any setting, any classroom, or any home.

Recently highlighted by Google over on Instagram, there are a number of helpful 3D renders that could prove useful for this upcoming school year as many students spend a lot more time than expected learning from home. While Google Classroom is great and concepts can be both taught and caught through textbooks, online materials, and video calls, there’s something to be said for visual stimuli that help concepts stick. Surely you all remember the first time you saw that full-body human skeleton in science class. Being able to observe something in space helps us understand and learn better than simple 2D images on a screen or page.

As we continue to see more and more of these 3D AR objects added to Google search, the more opportunity there is for students to come across something very interesting and topical related to what they are currently learning. Scientific concepts like atomic structure, physics, chemestry and anatomy can be difficult to grasp with 2D assets alone. With Google and a smartphone, these concepts come to life. Especially for students, there are all sorts of relevant objects to observe in 3D space. Here are some examples (thanks to Android Police for a well-rounded list).

Planets, moons, celestial bodies

• Mercury
• Venus
• Earth
  • Moon
• Mars
  • Phobos
  • Deimos
• Jupiter
  • Europa
  • Callisto
  • Ganymede
• Saturn
  • Titan
  • Mimas
  • Tethys
  • Iapetus
  • Hyperion
• Uranus

Spacecrafts, satellites, and more

• 70-meter Antenna
• Apollo 11 command module
• Cassini
• Curiosity
• Delta II
• GRACE-FO
• Juno
• Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit
• SMAP
• Spirit
• Voyager 1

Biology terms

• Basophil
• Dicotyledon
• Eosinophil
• Eukaryotic chromosome structure
• Red blood cell
• Monocotyledon
• Monocyte
• Neutrophil

Organs and body parts

Chemistry

• 1-Bromobutane
• Alkane
• Chemical bond
• Chemical compound
• Covalent bond
• Electrolyte
• Ethene
• Functional group
• Hydrocarbon
• Ionic bonding
• Metallic bonding
• Methyl acetate
• Orbital hybridisation
• Organic chemistry
• Propanol
• Quantum mechanical model
• Salicylic acid

Click on any of these links and in your search results, you’ll have the option to view this particular object in 3D space wherever you are. Pinch in or out to zoom or move the item wherever you want. Then, once placed, take a moment to walk around that AR specimen and take it in. Move closer, move back, and let it’s virtual presence help you and your student form a better understanding of what that particular thing actually is.

In the absence of physical classrooms, AR object obviously don’t replace full-fledged learning environments, but they do help. No parent is going to go to the school supply store and buy a bunch of 3D models of human anatomy or carbon atoms. With tools like this, however, those higher concept aspirations don’t have to completely fall to the wayside in light of the pandemic. We’re hoping that as more of these models emerge, more contributors will continue to add relevant objects to search and we’ll eventually end up with a mountain of 3D objects to observe in our own worlds.

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