Google tries to drive home the major art galleries around the world with a new website that offers virtual tours through its Street View technology and the ability to build private collections and high-resolution images.
While most of the galleries have been employed to facilitate the accessibility of their works for years, several experts said during a presentation at Tate Britain in London that the Google seeks to bring the online experience of the art world to a new level .
“It could mean the element of change,” said Julian Raby, the Freer Gallery of Art, part of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, which is one of the 17 galleries that take part in the project.
Nelson Mattos, vice president of engineering at Google, said Art Project page (www.googleartproject.com) allow children of Latin America, India and Africa, which hardly ever see the original works that experience online.
“What this really represents is a big step in how people will interact with these beautiful artistic treasures from around the world,” he said, adding that Google plans to expand its website in the coming years.
Mattos many as several art museum directors assured that no matter how technology advances, as the new website will never replace physical visits to museums.
“Obviously we do not believe that this technology will prevent people can go to museums,” he added. “We hope the opposite happens,” he said.