Earlier this year at its I/O developer conference, Google announced ‘Expeditions,’ an app that lets teachers create synchronized virtual school trips using the company’s Cardboard virtual reality viewer. At the time, Google said it would have more news about Expeditions in the fall and as promised, it gave us an update today. The company is taking Expeditions on the road and to schools in the U.S., Australia, the United Kingdom and Brazil as part of a pilot program it calls the “Expeditions Pioneer Program.”
Google says it will bring kits with everything teachers need to run a virtual class trip to schools. This kit includes Asus Zenfone 2’s, a tablet for the teacher, Cardboard or Mattel View-Master viewers, and a router that allows Expeditions to run offline if necessary.
Google has partnered with content providers like the American Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian, The Planetary Society, the National Museum of Korea, Frontiers of Flight Museum, Alchemy VR, PBS, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and others to create virtual reality experiences for students. Google is also partnering with Subaru to bring these virtual field trips to schools.
The company says that it plans to bring Expeditions to “thousands” of schools. That’s definitely an ambitious program, especially since it plans to have a team visit every school to show teachers how the system works.
Schools that are interested in joining the program can sign up here.