Google AR app lets you place prehistoric creatures, Apollo 11 in your room

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  A cat faces off with a 400:1 scale prehistoric crustacean. [credit: Google ]

Today, Google announced that it has partnered with institutions like the State Darwin Museum of Moscow and London's Natural History Museum to add new virtual exhibits to its Arts & Culture app for Android and iOS, which allows users to place augmented reality assets in real space, visible on a phone screen.

Additions include a 400:1 scale model of a prehistoric crustacean called a Cambropachycope, the Apollo 11 capsule, Neil Armstrong's spacesuit, and artworks by Frida Kahlo and other artists. The app also includes a nearly 500 million-year-old sea creature called an Aegirocassis, a trunkfish, a shark, and several more-most of which are also viewable as 3D models on one of Google's websites.

Both Google and its chief competitor in the mobile space (Apple) have invested heavily in augmented reality for mobile devices. They each provide APIs for developers of AR apps for their platforms-ARCore for Android and ARKit for iOS and iPadOS.

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