If you’ve been itching to visit a museum, Instagram has decided to bring museum exhibits to you. You can now view augmented reality (AR) museum exhibits from the Smithsonian, the Palace of Versailles, and Le Grand Palais.
Instagram’s AR Effects Get Educational
Instagram might not seem like the best educational resource, but its new partnership with museums in the US and France puts an educational spin on the app.
The Smithsonian, Palace of Versailles, and Le Grand Palais are all offering educational AR effects that bring exhibits to your living room.
I want to bring the Smithsonian to where people spend their time, to spark imagination and nourish curious minds. Today we launch 10 augmented reality experiences on Instagram that bring our 3D objects into your backyard or living room, including @NMNH‘s Mammoth. pic.twitter.com/B3KTIMUbpk
— Lonnie G. Bunch III (@SmithsonianSec) December 9, 2020
While the Smithsonian houses numerous fun effects, such as the wooly mammoth skeleton, triceratops, and the Discovery space shuttle, Le Grand Palais has a smaller collection that focuses on famous statues. The Palace of Versailles offers only one effect: The Fountain of Apollo.
Google offered a similar educational promotion in August 2020. The tech giant partnered with Moscow’s State Darwin Museum and London’s Natural History Museum to offer AR effects modeled after ancient creatures.
How to Access Museum AR Effects on Instagram
To access the AR effects on Instagram, simply head to a museum’s profile, and then hit the Effects tab (the smiley face icon). From there, you’ll see a full list of that museum’s AR effects.
Simply tap an effect, and hit Try it to experiment with it for yourself. Instagram will open the camera, and you’ll be able to place the exhibit anywhere in your current environment.
You can move the exhibit wherever you want, as well as shrink or enlarge it. Some effects, like the Discovery space shuttle and The Fountain of Apollo, even come with an educational audio clip to go along with it.
To learn more about the exhibit, press the numbers that appear at the bottom of the effect. Each number represents a different fact about the exhibit, which will appear in the form of a small excerpt.
Although the fact will show up somewhere next to the exhibit, keep in mind that you might have to twist and turn the virtual exhibit until you can fully read it. And unfortunately, the accompanying exhibit facts from Le Grand Palais are only available in French.
Endless Fun With AR Effects
AR effects offer endless amounts of fun, but aren’t solely for entertainment purposes. After all, AR is a surprisingly great way to learn something new. Why should you learn about a space shuttle or statue from a textbook, when you can simply have it appear in your room instead?
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