If you enjoy checking out the Himalayas and catching a glimpse of Mt. Everest on Google Street View, then you will be pleased to learn that Google is kicking things up a notch. It has launched a fun Google Maps app to engage kids (and kids-at-heart) and let them explore the Himalayas in 3D.
The new Google Maps app for Android does not stop at that — kids explore the terrain in 3D as a 500-foot tall Yeti!
The app was released on Wednesday, Aug. 3 and is dubbed Verne: The Himalayas, and you've guessed it correctly — Verne is the friendly Yeti whom kids can deploy to move around the 3D map's imagery. The character can do quirky things that will be a hit with children, such as climbing up Mt. Everest, skating smoothly across frozen lakes and performing a slew of activities!
"Verne: The Himalayas is a new app that invites you to explore Google Maps' 3D imagery of the Himalayas alongside a 500 foot Yeti named Verne. As Verne, you can run up Mt. Everest in seconds, skate across icy lakes, chase yaks, discover bits of information, ride a jetpack, play traditional Himalayan instruments, and more," notes the company.
The app has been designed with the aim of getting children to discover the world via 3D imagery and maps. Google describes the app as an experiment, which will build on the Himalayas' 3D imagery on Google Maps. But with the introduction of gameplay and zooming around the 3D environment, the app becomes a lot more entertaining and appealing.
Googlers who built Verne: The Himalayas tried out the concept on their own kids first. The team deployed the 3D imagery on Google Maps in tandem with Unity Game Engine.
The entertaining new app for Android devices is not just about fun and games, as it has an educational side too — albeit not in an obvious manner. Through the app, children will be able to discover educational info as well. How, you ask? Through the sporadic voice narration that shares interesting trivia, such as the Himalayas being the tallest mountain range in the world.
The idea behind including a character like Verne and getting him to perform activities is to offer children a novel and exciting way to experience our world virtually with a companion, using maps in the process.
However, since the app focuses only on the Himalayas, this could be a limitation; kids may get tired of it once they have exhausted all the activities with Verne. Nevertheless, since Google says this is an experiment, it could build on the idea and develop the concept into something more expansive in the near term.
Verne: The Himalayas is available for download for Android on the Google Play Store. Check out the video showing off Verne in action below.
