Google Is Offering a Free VR Tour of the Palace of Versailles
Visit the tourist attraction for free from the comfort of your own home.
Google has produced the largest photogrammetry project for the French tourist attraction Palace of Versailles, delivering a virtual reality tour of Louis XIV’s royal estate. Using an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, users will be able to travel the castle’s 21 rooms, such as King and Queen’s State Apartments, the Royal Opera House, Royal Chapel and Hall of Mirrors, as well as the rest of its 387,500 square foot interior. It will showcase all the works of art housed in the location, including sculptures, paintings, and tapestries.
According to its description on Steam:
“Tapestries, paintings, ceilings, sculptures and furniture, everything is within reach of your controller to grant you unlimited and privileged access to the treasures of Versailles,” reads the description on Steam. “For a more intimate experience, switch to night mode and explore the Palace by the light of chimney fires.”
The tour collects over 4TB of data and 15 billion textured pixels in order to visualize the experience. But if you don’t have a VR headset though, Google has also released an online exhibition featuring over 390 assets, including objects, artifacts, and paintings.
Check out the visuals above and purchase the exhibition from Google’s Arts & Culture site.
In other travel news, you can now Airbnb the castle from Downton Abbey.
🌎 The palace of Versailles presents its new VR experience: “Versailles: The Palace is yours”. Paintings, sculptures, furniture, the Hall of Mirrors – everything is within your reach.
Happy exploring! @googlearts #VersaillesVR
https://t.co/hsiVflmaMJ— Chateau de Versailles (@CVersailles) September 30, 2019
