Turn Your Home Into 'Jurassic Park’ With Google’s New Dinosaur Feature

Dinosaurs make everything better, especially when it comes to your Google search.

If you’re a big fan of Jurassic Park, you can now experience what it’s like to see a dinosaur right in front of you. Feel free to call yourself Dr. Alan Grant.

Google, in partnership with NBCUniversal Media and Ludia, have released 10 AR (augmented reality) dinosaurs that you can search for and view in your own space using your phone. The new AR experience isn’t just a bit of fun, it’s also a great way to understand dinosaurs on a new level, especially when it comes to seeing their actual sizes and details.

“Watch the massive T. Rex stomp in your living room or gaze up at a majestic Brachiosaurus as it towers above a neighborhood tree,” it says on the Google blog. You can search for the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, Triceratops, Spinosaurus, Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Pteranodon, and Parasaurolophus, according to the Google blog.

If you’re curious about the technology behind this experience, Google has released two videos on YouTube that detail how they made an AR Brachiosaurus and Pteranodon.

“To create the 3D dinosaurs, our concept artists first did preliminary research to discover information about each creature,” said Camilo Sanin, Ludia’s Lead on Character Creations, on the Google blog. “Not only did we draw research from various forms of literature, our artists also worked with paleontologists and the ‘Jurassic World’ team to make the assets as accurate and realistic as possible. Even the smallest of details, such as irregularities of skin color and patterns, are important.”

In order to see the dinos for yourself, there are specific instructions depending on the device you’re using. Keep in mind that this can only be done on a smartphone.

If you’re using an Android, search for “dinosaur” or one of the 10 specific dinosaurs on the Google app or any Android browser, and tap “View in 3D.” You must have an Android 7 and above and you can see AR content on ARCore-enabled devices, according to the blog.

If you’re on an iPhone, search for “dinosaur” or one of the 10 specific dinosaurs on the Google app or on Google.com with Chrome or Safari, and tap “View in 3D” as well. You must be running iOS 11 and above.

Once your phone gets a sense of your space (your living room, your back yard, on the street, etc.), the dinosaur will “appear” in your view of the space on your phone. Just to note, it works way better if you get into a larger space so you can see the full scale of the dinosaur, rather than in a tiny room.

You can also create AR videos and photos using the recording option, so you can recreate whatever scene you like from the movies. Google encourages all users to share and tag your photos and videos using the hashtags #Google3D and #JurassicWorld.

More information can be found on the Google blog.