Explore virtual museums around the world, viewing artworks at amazing zoom levels... all online, all free!

Whether you are an art lover, a graphic designer, or just an average Joe, overseas travel is always something incredible, and an opportunity to be grabbed if and when it ever arrives.
If, however you cannot see yourself jetting off anywhere anytime soon, but you still want to feel just a little like you have been touring some exotic European capital, then head on over to http://www.googleartproject.com/.

Google Art Project, as the name accurately suggests, is a free, Google powered tool which can be used to take virtual tours of a number of famous museums around the world.

In a similar fashion to the Google's now famous Street View, you can literally (virtually) navigate around inside each room of a museum, and then zoom in on a particular artwork or piece of particular interest.
It has to be seen to be believed - the zoom levels are incredible, allowing you to view even the tiniest cracks in each canvas.
Check this out...:

From this...

To this...

To this...!

I just have to keep asking myself - what more can they do with technology?
To use just Google as an example, when Google Earth launched in 2005, jaws dropped all over the place.
I remember clients of mine spending entire days just exploring the planet and discovering little known locations all over the globe...

Now it's virtual museums.
What's next?

Thx 2 Maggy for this :)

Related articles

• Google Art Project Walks Through Global Art Museums Street-View-Style [Art] (lifehacker.com)
• Google's Street View takes in art around the world (cbc.ca)
• Bits: Google Takes Street View Into Art Museums (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Google Unveils Museum Art Project with Virtual Tours (pamil-visions.net)
• Google Art Project Is Street View for Galleries and Museums (wired.com)
• Explore Art Museums Google Street View Style (instantfundas.com)
• World's greatest art galleries now on Google Street View (telegraph.co.uk)
• Bits: Google Takes Street View Into Art Museums (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)

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Explore the Sky, Moon, Mars and more in Google Earth...

Google Earth took the world by storm when it first appeared, and each update has added amazing new features to what is already an incredible program.

Recently Google introduced some awesome new features to the program, but I frequently come across people who have no idea that there is a whole other side to Google Earth.

In the latest version (available here), if you click on the "View" menu and then click on "Explore", you will see 4 options:- Earth, Sky, Mars, Moon.

Select "Sky", and your PC / Mac is transformed into a high-power telescope, capable of zooming deep into the night sky. Just as in "Earth" mode, double click on any insignificant looking dot in the sky and soon all of its hidden glory is revealed:

Select "Mars" or "Moon", and you get to see Mars or the Moon in full 3D, much like you see the Earth:

Streetview is another groundbreaking feature in Google Earth, and something which Google are currently busy implementing in South Africa ahead of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

The cars that Google use to collect the data for Streetview, carry an array of cameras mounted onto the roof of the vehicle, such as this one spotted in England:

Apparently the Google team covering South Africa are using the Toyota Yaris as their camera vehicle of choice.
Have you spotted any in your city?

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