Google announced that it will close Expeditions, its free educational app that gives teachers and students the ability to explore different parts of the world using augmented reality and virtual reality.
Users only need a cell phone and a VR viewer to enjoy some of the more than 1000 virtual reality trips, see 3D objects or 360° scenes. That way, students can venture into art, history, science, among other subjects.
Although it is a resource with great potential, Google has reconsidered the idea considering the current educational context in view of the pandemic. As mentioned by the Google team, not all students can access a VR viewer to enjoy this experience, nor is it possible for educators to take advantage of the potential of this tool with this new class mode.
So they have decided to close the app and move most of the VR tours to Google Arts & Culture so that they are available to everyone. From there, teachers and students will be able to enjoy all this content along with all the collections included in Arts & Culture.