Google has used a gigapixel camera to capture each brush stroke of about 200 famous artworks added to its Cultural Institute. The Alphabet company's robotic camera snaps details of masterpieces by Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, and other renowned artists. Art Camera gives fine art lovers the chance to view and study works from their home instead of visiting a museum.
Google unveiled its robotic Art Camera on May 17, Tuesday. It also announced it is uploading 1,000 new gigapixel images for web availability.
The high-resolution device uses laser and sonar to focus and align small sections of the artworks. It then photographs each bit.
Every image captures the unique colors and brush strokes that were used to make the artwork. Art Camera creates a snapshot of the thousands of bits that make up one painting.
After capturing the art pieces inch by inch the images are sent to Google's servers where they are stitched together. The process now takes hours instead of days.
People can virtually view the masterpieces online as a whole or zoom in to a single brush stroke.
The robot cameras give global museums the ability to capture detailed images of famous paintings. However, it also ends the need to ship their artwork outside the museum, which increases the risk of damage and theft.
Ben St. John is a Google Cultural Institute Engineer. He stated in the blog post that Google will send a fleet of the high-resolution cameras to museums around the world. It will be free.
The tech giant has only built 20 of its new high-resolution cameras. They are to be used for archiving and currently only work on 2D images.
Google has not shared the cost to build each Art Camera. However, they are not for sale and are available to Google Cultural Institute partners that have uploaded a minimum of 50 works to the platform, according to Mashable.
In related news, Facebook has just released the first video captured by its 360-degree camera rig, according to Engadget. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a 3.5 minute clip of New York City's Grand Central Terminal.
Surround 360 is the social network's 14-camera rig that filmed visitors of the famous NYC railroad station. The video can be watched with or without a VR headset.