Google Product Helping Blog

Virtual reality has brought us to places ranging from the bottom of the ocean to the surface of Mars. But as good as VR is, it�s never been quite as real as, well� real life. Google Cardboard Plastic, launching today, changes all that. It�s our latest step toward truly immersive technology�a new viewer that lets you see, touch, smell and hear the world just like you do in real life. Cardboard Plastic is the world�s first actual reality headset, complete with 4D integrated perspective, 360� spatially accurate sound, 20/20 resolution, and advanced haptics for realistic touch sensations. Expertly crafted from polymethyl methacrylate, Cardboard Plastic is lightweight, waterproof, and engineered to last a lifetime�no batteries, no wires. And unlike other VR headsets, it integrates seamlessly into your life�so you�ll never miss a thing. Unless you blink. Find more about Cardboard Plastic at google.com/cardboardplastic . The future is clear. Posted by Jon Wiley, Director of Immersive Design, ...

Last year, we opened the doors to the music landmark Abbey Road Studios , where musical legends like the Beatles and Pink Floyd have recorded. With a click of a mouse or a tap of a screen , more than 2 million fans from around the world have stepped Inside Abbey Road to explore the famous studios. Now you can go even further and experience what it actually feels like�and sounds like�inside the studios, using Google Cardboard and your smartphone. To get this virtual reality experience, download the app on Android (iOS coming soon), then start your journey with a nine-part guided tour narrated by Giles Martin , the son of the late Beatles producer, George Martin, who shares the history of the studios from the 1930�s to present day. After the tour, you can quite literally move around the studios at your leisure to see hidden treasures like Studio 3�s Mirrored Drum Room, where the mirrors help to create a close, bright and loud sound quality. Uncover one of Abbey Road's Mastering S...

Remember the last time you went on a trip or had a fun weekend? You probably took photos and videos�lots of them�but didn�t do much beyond posting a couple on social media. Maybe you thought about making an album to share with your family or friends, but picking out the best photos and organizing them can feel as fun as unpacking your suitcase�so more often than not, they just sit on your phone or computer. Starting today, after an event or trip, Google Photos will suggest a new album for you, curated with just your best shots. It�ll also add maps to show how far you traveled and location pins to remember where you went�because it's not always easy to recall the late-night diner you hit on your road trip, or which campsite you pitched the tent in when arriving after dark. You can add text captions to the album to describe the view from the small hill huge mountain you climbed, and turn on collaboration to let others add their own photos. Or if you want to create one yourself, any ...

By 2025, half of the world�s population will be living in water-stressed areas . Already, more than 663 million people in the world live without clean water. And drought is a major challenge in geographies ranging from Northern California, which is facing its worst drought in 1,200 years ; to east Africa, where a devastating drought has led to crop failures affecting an estimated 23 million people . To address challenges at this scale, we need creative solutions�both to raise awareness for these issues, and create new interventions to meet local needs. So this World Water Day , we want to highlight a handful of organizations who are using technologies�like virtual reality, data analysis, and mapping�to make a difference. Documenting impact with 360 video The nonprofit organization charity:water uses the power of crowd-fundraising to build wells in communities with limited access to clean water. Since 2006, they�ve funded more than 19,000 water projects in 24 countries that will serv...

Today�s blog post is by the winner of this year�s Doodle 4 Google competition, 10th grader Akilah Johnson. Given the contest�s theme��What makes me...me��who better than the young artist herself to answer that question? - Ed. When I was younger, I attended Roots Public Charter School and Roots Activity Learning Center in Northwest Washington, D.C. These schools promote a strong connection to African heritage, and an Afrocentric lifestyle; we regularly celebrated important African American people and I learned a lot about my history as an African American. As I grew older, I realized that the black people that came before us have made us into what we are today. So of course I had to include them in my doodle on the theme �What makes me...me.� My goal with my art was to not only turn heads but souls as well�not only for someone to see it and be amazed by it but also to have them understand and connect with it. My drawing explores childhood themes and then moves into reflections on ou...

Go isn�t just a game�it�s a living, breathing culture of players, analysts, fans, and legends. Over the last 10 days in Seoul, South Korea, we�ve been lucky enough to witness some of that incredible excitement firsthand. We've also had the chance to see something that's never happened before: DeepMind 's AlphaGo took on and defeated legendary Go player, Lee Sedol (9-dan professional with 18 world titles), marking a major milestone for artificial intelligence. Pedestrians checking in on the AlphaGo vs. Lee Sedol Go match on the streets of Seoul (March 13) Go may be one of the oldest games in existence, but the attention to our five-game tournament exceeded even our wildest imaginations. Searches for Go rules and Go boards spiked in the U.S. In China, tens of millions watched live streams of the matches, and the �Man vs. Machine Go Showdown� hashtag saw 200 million pageviews on Sina Weibo. Sales of Go boards even surged in Korea. Our public test of AlphaGo, however, was abou...

With spring around the corner, it�s time to look forward to sunnier skies�and summer getaways. These days, mobile phones make it easier than ever for you to sneak in vacation dreaming and planning here and there�in line at the coffee shop, waiting at the doctor�s office, or on your way to meet a friend. In fact, last year, according to our internal data for google.com, we saw a whopping 50 percent increase in travel-related questions on mobile phones. But even as that number grows, it can be hard to get all the right information in one place on a small screen. There are a dizzying number of questions to answer when planning a trip: What are the best places to visit? What time of year is good to go? What kind of prices can I expect? Today we�re introducing something to make all this easier: Destinations on Google, which helps you discover and plan your next vacation, right from Google Search on your phone. Here�s how it works: Search with Google on your mobile phone for the continent, c...

Over the years, Doodles have commemorated the achievements of women in science , civil rights , journalism , sports , arts , technology and beyond. It�s always an honor to pay tribute to women who have changed the course of history, sometimes in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But for this year�s International Women�s Day , we wanted to celebrate the Doodle-worthy women of the future. So we gathered our cameras and pencils and visited 13 countries where we asked 337 women and girls to complete the sentence, �One day I will�� This is what they told us: Our video Doodle was created by three women on the Doodle team (Liat Ben-Rafael, Lydia Nichols, and Helene Leroux) and features original music by Merrill Garbus ( tUnE-yArDs ). From toddlers to grandmothers, the women in San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Lagos, Moscow, Cairo, Berlin, London, Paris, Jakarta, Bangkok, New Delhi and Tokyo all sparkled with personality. Each new city brought more �One day I will�s, ...

Right now, 16 private teams from around the world are in a race to the moon. They�re in a $30 million competition called the Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP), which challenges teams to design and build a rover, land it on the surface of the moon, drive it 500 meters across the lunar landscape, and send HD video and imagery back to Earth by the end of 2017. And soon, you�ll be able to learn their stories in a new digital documentary series from Google, Academy Award�-nominated director Orlando von Einsiedel, Executive Producer J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, and Epic Digital. The GLXP competition, which started in 2007, aims to kick off a new era of space exploration by enabling low-cost and efficient access to the moon. Not only is the moon our closest neighbor in space, it�s also the gateway to exploring the rest of the universe�and provides opportunities for discovery in the fields of science, technology, and human habitation. The teams in the competition come from all walks of life, from Silicon...

The recent Zika virus outbreak has caused concern around the world. We�ve seen more than a 3,000 percent increase in global search interest  since November, and last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency . The possible correlation with Zika, microcephaly and other birth defects is particularly alarming. But unlike many other global pandemics, the spread of Zika has been harder to identify, map and contain. It�s believed that 4 in 5 people with the virus don�t show any symptoms, and the primary transmitter for the disease, the Aedes mosquito species, is both widespread and challenging to eliminate. That means that fighting Zika requires raising awareness on how people can protect themselves, as well as supporting organizations who can help drive the development of rapid diagnostics and vaccines. We also have to find better ways to visualize the threat so that public health officials and NGO�s can support communities at risk. As a company wh...