Google's Tour Creator:
Telling stories through Virtual Reality
Google's Tour Creator
Google's Tour Creator
- Completely web-based/ runs on Chrome browsers; it's built for educators
- Explore it at vr.google.com/tourcreator/
- Has updated, high-resolution 360 imagery of locations around the world.
- Can now create and share Google Expeditions
- Also: all of the videos below are available on the this Youtube playlist.
- Subscribe to Donnie's Youtube Channel here.
A Published Tour
A Published Tour
Tutorials
Tutorials
Creating Your First Tour
Creating Your First Tour
- Visit https://vr.google.com/tourcreator/
- Click "Get Started" and then "New Tour"
- Give your Tour a title and upload a cover photo (you won't be able to publish it without one).
- Add a description and give it a topic
- Click "Create" to start adding Street View imagery to your tour.
Adding Street View Imagery
Adding Street View Imagery
- Search the Street View Location you want on Google Maps.
- Drop "Pegman" to see what imagery is available.
- Click "Add Scene" and give it a title and description.
- Click "Add Scene" to add an additional Street View image onto your Tour.
Setting the Starting View
Setting the Starting View
- Change what your audience sees first when opening a scene in your tour
- Click "Set starting view"
- Rotate the Street View image around until it's facing the direction you want.
- Click "Save".
Adding Points of Interest
Adding Points of Interest
- Highlight interesting locations in each scene on your Tour.
- Click "Add Point of Interest", give it a title and description. Your description will appear inside a text box on a published tour.
- Have a picture that really brings your Tour to life? Add it as an image overlay and adjust its size as necessary.
Adding Audio to Points of Interest
Adding Audio to Points of Interest
- Want to your audience to hear a sound clip when a Point of Interest is clicked?
- Click the P.O.I. and click "Add Sight Narration".
- Upload the audio file you want them to hear.
- I have my students record themselves using online-voice-recorder.com, and then upload it to the P.O.I.
Adding Ambient/Background Audio
Adding Ambient/Background Audio
- Would your image normally have some sort of ambient/background noise?
- Click "Add Ambient Audio" to have that sound play in the background when the scene loads up.
- I recommend using a site similar to freetousesounds.com/ to find some background audio.
Recording/Adding Scene Narration
Recording/Adding Scene Narration
- Add background audio to any scene on your Tour
- Click "Add Scene Narration"
- Record your narration using a tool like online-voice-recorder.com
- Upload the .mp3 to your Tour.
- Your narration is now added onto your tour!
Publishing and Sharing Your Tours
Publishing and Sharing Your Tours
- Once your Tour is completed, press the "Publish" button.
- Select whether you want it to be "Public" or "Unlisted". I usually have my students post theirs as "Unlisted".
- Copy the link to your clipboard and it can be shared with the world!
Using Tour Creator in Google Classroom:
Using Tour Creator in Google Classroom:
- Tours make great resources for Google Classroom assignments! Once your tour is published, copy its like to your clipboard.
- Paste it onto a Google Classroom assignment.
- Now your students can use and view it!
Creating Your Own Google Expeditions!
Creating Your Own Google Expeditions!
- Once your Tour is published, you can let your students view it in virtual reality through the Google Expeditions app.
- Open your published Tour, click the "Share" button, and then "Expeditions" - this will add it to your Expeditions list.
- Open Expeditions on your phone/tablet and click "Library" and then "My Tours".
- Open the Tour you just created and press "Guide" to start the Expedition with your class.
- Important: Currently the "Create Your Own" feature is available on Android only.