As a kid, did you ever think that it was possible to dig a hole straight down and pop up on the other side of the planet? Well, it isn’t, but this little tool made by Google lets you simulate the experience.
Google gets digging
Meet Floom, the AR toy that lets you open up a portal to the opposite side of our humble hunk of space rock. Floom is browser-based, no downloads required and works right out of your phone. The way you use it is as simple as actually just digging a hole, but it’s far more effective at opening the globe to you. Point your camera at the ground, tap the little animated whirlwind, and hey-presto! Now you’re looking at the opposite end of the world.
From my house, I could beam my way to a lot of the Pacific Ocean, Mexico, and even directly above Denver Airport. It’s really fun. Now, it’s not exactly like digging right through the world and popping your head out on the other side. You get a nifty birds-eye-view of whatever’s at the other end of your throughline, and can go through to Google Earth if you want to look around some more.
Floom uses WebXR, which allows for AR and VR experiences right in your browser. Aside from Floom, Google’s got a few others using WebXR, such as Sodor, a nifty tool that paints a line 6ft/2m ahead of you to help you social distance in public. Though we wouldn’t recommend walking around every nook of your city with your phone up in front of you, even for this purpose. Unless you aren’t hugely attached to it.
Right now, Floom (and other WebXR tools) only work with supported Android devices. Were excited to see what other AR tools might be added to Googles current kit.
Source: The Verge