Buckingham Palace is set to virtually welcome thousands of school children through its doors.
The London abode belonging to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has become the first landmark in the United Kingdom to become part of a virtual reality project, Google Expeditions Pioneer programme, which aims to let schools take their pupils on previously impossible field trips.
Jemima Rellie, director of content and audiences at the Royal Collection Trust, told the Guardian newspaper: "The more we found out, the more excited we got … Virtual reality is really something. It’s a gamechanger. It is entirely different.
"It is the most physically immersive experience you can get without actually being at the palace. It’s not going to replace a visit, but if you are unable to get to the palace, it is the best alternative out there."
The tour works by using a special app on a smartphone and a cardboard stereoscopic viewer.
Jessica Holland, who is a part of the programme, added: "Teachers really wanted a way to inspire and engage their students and bring the outside world into the classroom, so we have used that as our guiding principle to create Expeditions.
"If we look across Google we have Classroom, products for education, which has grown to over 10 million users in a year. We have Google Cardboard, which is this virtual reality platform, and all this amazing 360-degree imagery from Google Earth."
Buckingham Palace welcomes virtual schoolchildren
