Google brings Aussie animals to life

Google announced a global feature which will allow people all around the world to bring life-sized Australian animals into their space using augmented reality – with a quick Google mobile Search.

The feature allows you to bring eight, life-sized Aussie animals into your space, allowing people to better visualise the detail, movement and scale of some of Australia’s most iconic creatures. The animals include the koala, emu, kangaroo, wombat, kookaburra, echidna, quokka and platypus.

Australia is one of the most important nations on Earth for biodiversity. In fact, it is one of only 17 ‘megadiverse’ nations and is home to more species than any other developed country. Most of Australia’s wildlife is found nowhere else in the world, making its conservation even more important.

Some 87 percent of mammal species, 93 percent of reptiles, 94 percent of frogs and 45 percent of bird species are found only in Australia.

The newly launched Google feature will help bring some education to people around the world about these animals that are native to Australia.

To bring these animals to life, all you need to do is:

1. Search for one of the eight Aussie AR Animals in your mobile browser (Android or iOS)

2. Scroll down to tap the “View in 3D” button and then tap “View in your space”

3. Point your phone to find the ground and the animal will appear

4. Tap or hold down your camera button to take photos and record videos

The launch is arriving at a poignant time, following the recent devastating bushfires which endangered Australian wildlife. Google Trends data has revealed search interest for koalas hit an all-time high globally in January. And in Australia, we looked to support as there was a 5,000% increase in searches for “adopt a koala bushfires.” Here’s the list of the top trending queries globally for Aussie AR animals in 2020:

1.   Are koalas extinct 2020?

2.   What does a baby platypus look like?

3.   Can an emu fly?

4.   How many koalas have died?

5.   How big are wombats?

6.   Are koalas friendly?

7.   How do koalas drink water?

8.   What does the inside of a kangaroo pouch look like?

9.   Can koalas be pets?

10.  How are baby kangaroos born?