VR takes you to London's Natural History Museum from anywhere in the world

Natural History Museum

From today, you can meet a seven meter long predator reptile called the Rhomaleosaurus that died out over 175 million years - and it is all made possible in virtual reality through Google Cardboard. Plus, it's an experience you can try out totally free of charge.

Google has partnered with the Natural History Museum in London to allow people around the world to explore its exhibits as if they're really there as well as dive into virtual reality experiences.

If you go to g.co/naturalhistory you'll be able to explore the museum using Google's indoor Street View technology and look through a number of the exhibits including the dinosaurs area and the iconic Hintze Hall, featuring Dippy the Diplodocus.

The Natural History Museum has included over 300,000 digital specimens within the program through nine virtual exhibitions. It includes the world's first ever T-Rex fossil find as well as a skull from a narwhal.

Educating the world

This is the first time the museum's vast collection has been accessible around the world.

Through Google Cardboard and the Arts and Culture app you'll be able to meet a CGI version of the Rhomaleosaurus and learn facts about it while it swims around you.

NHM

You can't literally walk the halls in virtual reality though. It seems like that would be the next evolutionary step as well as maybe even integration with Google's Project Tango technology.

A Natural History Museum representative told TechRadar the institution would like to bring more of its exhibits to the virtual reality platform, but there's no concrete plans at the moment.

Anyone in the world can now learn directly from the one of the best museums on the planet and Google's platform now includes over 150 new digital exhibitions from 16 different countries.

Download the Google Arts and Culture app now on either iOS or Android, or visit the official website to start your tour of the museum now.

James Peckham

James is Managing Editor for Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.