Google Cultural Institute, a Google initiative that allows users to discover exhibits and collections from around the world online, has teamed with the
Cincinnati Museum Center to give people around the world a chance to tour the museum via Google Street View.
Using the Street View feature, online visitors can drop themselves into various points in the Cincinnati Museum Center, getting a 360-degree view of that space, from the massive Rotunda of Union Terminal to the Museum of Natural History & Science and Cincinnati History Museum or the Duke Energy Children's Museum.
Street View has also mapped features of the Museum Center that many guests rarely see in person, including the cork walls and floors of the historic Union Terminal President's Office and historic dining rooms. Additionally, some items from Museum Center's fine art collection are available to view through the Google Art Project.
“This technology gives a whole new range of people the chance to experience the stories, history and scientific research we have here,” says Cody Hefner of the Cincinnati Museum Center. “We hope that this actually gets new people excited about coming down to the museum and experiencing these things in person.”
The relationship with Google began when the Museum Center approached the company about the Google Art Project.
“We are happy to have an ongoing relationship with the team at Google, and from here we’re hoping to continue refining and expanding the online tour to make it even better for online visitors,” Hefner says. “The reason we exist is not for profit—it’s to educate and inspire people. It’s selfish for us to say that you have to come here to see all that. This gives us an opportunity to expand our reach, and we’re happy to have Google as a partner in that.”
In addition to the virtual tour, more than 65 works of art are included in the Art Project, including one that was photographed in extraordinary detail using super high-resolution "gigapixel" photo capturing technology.
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